Post natal ward hell

[SilverLake]

Anyone else experiencing the joys of the postnatal ward?

I'm shattered and want to sleep and amazingly my baby agrees. Meanwhile the woman in the next door cubicle has visitors and one kid (not the baby) has just spent 10 mins screaming his lungs out whilst the adults did nothing.

Please cheer me up with your stories. I'm here for a few days.

Eugh, post natal ward. I sobbed more or less the whole time I was there. Visiting for family finished at 8 and didn't start again till 12 the next day. I gave birth at 4, was on the ward for 6, DH had nipped home to fetch ds1 and arrived at 6.30, so he had spent hardly anytime with newborn baby and wasn't allowed back till 12, missing the newest part of our baby's life.

Also I was breastfeeding and the baby was feeding pretty constantly. Every 30 mins through the night the MW kept coming to my cubicle to tell me to put the baby in the crib. Obviously I refused.obviously she just kept coming.

They wouldn't loosen the name bands on his ankles either when I asked them to because they were too tight. That was when I got stroppy. I actually said " maybe you didn't hear me? Loosen the damn things"

Funnily enough I was discharged first the following morning.

The ward I was in the night before having ds was just me & 1 other. She popped out for a fag (for about an hour!) then returned after her own mother had arrived to tell her that she really should tell the dp that she was in hospital ready to have the baby any moment. Fag-break mummy-to-be announced that she wasn't even sure which of several men was the father-to-be!!!!

I was given a private room (no charge) the following night once ds was born as he was in NICU. I even got brought breakfast in bed! Thank you lovely NHS :-)

First post but had to share! I was still numb from the waist down from my epidural when a midwife came along and told me I must get out of bed and go to the canteen if I wanted any breakfast. When I apologetically explained I couldn't move she huffed and puffed away, came back 10 mins later and slammed a tray down in front of me with cold toast and soggy cornflakes with temperature room milk already poured on them. Also my son was unwashed from the birth for 24 hours...nothing provided for me to do it myself...it was the Bounty photo lady who eventually helped me bathe him because she couldn't bring herself to take a photo of him covered in goo. Due late Feb with baby 2, seriously hoping I get to go home same day!

I love the way post section they tell you not to lift but are happy tort you carry your strangely heavy tray of food. Dh was getting them for all of us on the ward.

All private (free) rooms in our hospital - Sunderland. Fantastic staff - they brought coffees - I'm easily pleased. Baby was in nicu so i was upset and lovely auxiliary came and sat with me for an hour on 2nd night. They even let me stay an extra night [usual after section is 2 nights i think??)

Only gripe was my own fault really. Was in the room from about 2am - could barely move after cs - and the glaring light was left on. I assumed it was so they could keep an eye on me but couldn't sleep at all because of it. Lovely breakfast lady who popped in at 7 asked if i was scared of the dark!

Oh no! Some of these experiences on here are awful. I'm 33 weeks with dc1, and having read the whole thread I think in going to be demanding a private room or immediate discharge from labour ward!

We had one night on pn. Last on one side was lovely, we had a chat and I have her some lanoish as she'd forgotten hers. Was spending a lot of time topless and bfing, fathers were allowed to be there 9-8. So I want impressed when a nurse whipped my curtains back to reveal me to the ward.

But there was one lovely hca who when I buzzed to be helpedgetting ds into his cot so I could change him sent me off to wash and hobble through to breakfast whilst she changed him and made me tea and today an hour early.

I also had one woman in my bay who zoned out and watched TV instead of focusing on her baby. Was v glad when the baby's GM turned up at general visiting (limited by pass to only 2 per bed) and cuddled the poor little mite.

Congratulations silverlake!

DD and I were that pair. I was kept in a standard post-natal ward after a C-section (wrong one, but there was no space on the one I should have been in, as they were using it as a labour ward..), so I was the one pressing the buzzer for a drink of water while the spinal block wore off - I knew I was pissing off all the other ladies on the ward, and was told in no uncertain terms that I was pissing the nurses off too! (Didn't get any water apart from when DH visited though)
DD proceeded to scream from 9pm to 5am and no amount of cuddles, singing or feeding would calm her. Since I couldn't move, we had no choice but to sit it out - I felt so sorry for all the other ladies, including two who complained to the nurses ("Isn't there something you can do to shut them up?"), as I was desperate to sleep myself! Turned out she hated the flourescent light that was never switched off, and was perfectly OK otherwise.

Next time it's a private room!

I had emcs (after 34 hrs) so was in for (then) standard 3 nights... First two nights not too bad but on 3rd night new mother arrived at about 9pm (after visiting hours) with partner, mother and apparently two friends. Friends went out and came back 15 mins later with KFC for everyone but the mother. Meanwhile mother, her mother and father arguing (loudly) with medical staff that they should go home despite needing to get test results on blood levels due to haemorage. Friends left at about 10.30pm, but arguments continued, leading to extremely noisy packing up after midnight (normal day-time volume).

DS had slept through all of this, but took this as the cue to start crying - and wouldn't be settled. Sister came and told me I wasn't bf 'right' (although others had commented in the earlier days that DS and I seemed to be getting on really well, and this had actually been the only thing that had gone to plan with the birth. She even tried forcing him on - we found out later that he was starting colic really early and was exhibiting the same movements and cry that he did when it kicked in properly. So I ended up in the corridor at 2am because he was so loud.

The nurses took pity and said they would look after him and sent me to bed - but brought him back (still crying!) at 4am!!! I was so glad to go home the next day.

After a very long labour and roughly 3 hours sleep in as many days (baby was back to back) I was wheeled into postnatal at 4:30am. Husband and mother duly kicked out. Left holding my screaming DD, crying my eyes out, unable to get her to latch. Unable to get out of bed due to being still hooked up to catheter etc and not able to reach crib or water that was placed out of arms reach. Buzzed midwives to get help, they were cranky with me and didn't give me much help. One even forcefully held my babies head to my breast, while she screamed and screamed to get her to latch. By the time my husband returned at 8am, I was lying in pools of my own blood as I couldn't get to my bag to change my maternity towels. It took them another four hours before the took various lines out so I could actually shower. The hearing check person didn't bother to check us so I had to get this done in the community. They had one paediatrician for labour and pn ward. We finally got discharged at 10pm that evening, only just making the cut off. I told the midwife in no uncertain terms I was self discharging if they didn't discharge me. There was no way in hell I was staying another night in there.

This is why DD2 was born at home, I absolutely loathed the heat, the noise, the feeling that you were 8 and doing your baby care exam.

I failed the BFing section and eventually lied that DD had fed and left.

I am sitting on the ward after a night of breast feeding hell slightly delirious 3rd degree tear of my bladder n Caesarian

My milk won't come in they won't let me home day 3 here n I've had enough

Bounty ladies have just been told to royally F%23%^^€€€$$$!

With the first it was hell - the midwives were condescending to the husband when he queried DD's temp, she was too hot and when finally she was checked on the second night with a lot of tutting and eye rolling, they suddenly burst into life and I ended up with her being transferred to the hospital in the next city with blue lights and wasnt allowed to go with her as I hadnt been seen by a doctor, so spent a night on a ward with seven other newborns and no baby.Admittedly the other mums tried to keep their babies quiet as they could see how it was affecting me, I spent a lot of that night on a chair in the TV room.They also refused to let my sister visit the first night as she wasnt 16 - it was about three weeks before her 16th birthday so the husband informed them he was taking the baby out to see her, had she been my daughter, which is possible due to age gap, they would have not said anything.

The second and third were ok, different hospital and totally different midwives who seemed to care, the last time I was in we were on a c-section ward and there were four of us.

My antenatal and delivery care were superb, but my experience on the pn ward was horrendous. DS was born early by EMCS after a failed induction. He had a serious medical condition, so was whisked up to NICU while I was dumped on the pn ward alone. Unlike Newforestpony, I wasn't given a private room, just a cubicle on the massive (40-something bed) ward - so I was the only woman there without a baby All the other babies cried all night but I didn't have my own to cuddle and distract me from the general hellishness. I spent the whole time feeling weepy and hormonal and anxious about DS (no-one would tell me how he was doing in NICU and I couldn't go up there myself as I was still immobilised by the spinal block). Because I didn't have a baby with me, the midwife ignored me completely, until one burst into my cubicle in the middle of the night to shout at me for not expressing milk for DS and call me a selfish mother. When I said I didn't know how to hand express, she made a few hand gestures in my direction, threw a syringe at me and left The minute I could walk again, I went straight up to NICU, where the contrast was startling - the staff were so kind and helpful, showed me how to express milk properly and get involved with DS's care, gave me frequent updates, let us phone or visit any time of the day or night... I spent most of my recovery time in NICU rather than on the pn ward and discharged myself from the latter as quickly as I could!

Sorry, a bit of a (cathartic) rant there! I'm currently pregnant with DC2 (who will also be born early due to the same condition that DS has) and I'm dreading another stay on the pn ward, especially as they are so insensitive to women whose babies need special care After reading this thread, I think I'll insist on a side room, even if we have to pay through the nose for it!

£900! I was quoted £90, I think you may be refering to a private hospital rather than a private room in an NHS hospital?

Why dont you ask? I cant believe its £900 there when everyone here has said under £100.

£800-£900 sounds like the rate to transfer to the private wing for post-natal care (this is possible in some London hospitals). It's a different thing from having an individual room on the NHS ward, which there might be a small charge for, but won't be nearly as much.

I was there for 10 days! Women opposit had family with her continuously who were very noisy.

The women in the next bed was told off every night for not sterilising the baby's bottle/sleeping while bottle was proped in babys mouth. She kept going off ward for hours on end and leaving the baby with mw, who in the end refused to have her so she just left her on the ward on her own.

Women came in over night to have a rest shouted at her mum/boyfriend all day. The rest if us had prem babies so had to set alarms for feeding every 3 hours. The alarms woke her up so she shouted at us too.

We have a hotel on the top floor where your partner can stay with you, it's around £80 a night, but as ds3 was prem we couldn't go up there.

I'd already been there a week by the time ds was born, it was the longest 17 days of my life!

Well. With DS it wasn't too bad. Old style mat home, lovely old style nurses, cosy, decent food and only 3 to a room. My only bugbear was that as our room was at the end of the corridor, the breakfast equipment was put in with is and everyone trooped through each morning!
With DD, we were in the new wing of the local general hospital. It looked lovely, but was in fact draughty, cold, noisy and unwelcoming!
It was february, and windy. As I lay in bed, I could see the ceiling tiles lifting in the gusts! We were all freezing and only had one pillow each, so as there were only 3 of us in a 6 bed room, we went round and pinched all of the bedding off of the other beds! The food was diabolical. Thankfully, owing to the fact that the entire wing went very quiet, we often got seconds! As I "hadn't filled in a menu card" all I got to eat on the day following delivery was a sandwich and a small salad! I eventually enlisted DP into bringing chinese takeaway for all of us!
The two ladies I was with were lovely. We chatted all day and a lot of the night and at one point a midwife came and asked if we were having a party! We even had ladies coming in from other rooms to chat!

Usual moans here about mums who simply left their babies to 'cry it out' which I personally found upsetting and my husband had to practically sit on me at one point to stop me walking down the ward and picking the baby up. Inconsiderate visitors to other mums and generally a lot of coming and going all hours of the day and night.

On the bright side I did strike up a nice friendly relationship with one of the ladies who had been in for a week with a baby who was struggling to breastfeed after being born early. Also we had a little day room (although it was quite cold in there) were you could go and escape from it all for a bit, which I often did throughout my 3 day stay.

All the midwifes were lovely, which always helps.

Congratulations, just remember you will be home before you know it.

Just to highlight how lovely the midwifes were, they went to each bed every morning and took breakfast orders e.g. what cereal, what do you want on your toast, what hot drink would you like, and then bought it to us in bed. They also did this for a hot drink every afternoon. They offered to bath my baby or look after her so I could rest if I wanted as I had been in labour for over 38 hours, but I declined. They were happy to look after babies whilst mums bathed/showered and made time to come and chat to each mum every day and make sure she was alright. They were always cheerfull and never made you feel you were an inconvenience.

OMG this all sounds awful

I have to ask though - why and what is a fishtank and why are they putting babies in it? It can't actually be a fish tank. I'm having visions of aquatic hospital wards. Please help

idaclair, think more of an empty fish tank!

lol, <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&biw=983&bih=486&tbm=isch&tbnid=lj9JhA03RWWW6M:&imgrefurl=www.featurepics.com/online/Baby-Bed-Hospital-Picture188033.aspx&docid=U0qyirLwXxkNKM&imgurl=www.featurepics.com/FI/Thumb300/20070112/Baby-Bed-Hospital-188033.jpg&w=449&h=299&ei=aRTsUKXyBsbQ0QXOloCgDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=438&vpy=135&dur=283&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=86&ty=67&sig=113457774224623433062&page=1&tbnh=146&tbnw=213&start=0&ndsp=11&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:94" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here

Where I gave birth (cs) we were in rooms with two beds. The last time the room was really hot and the woman in the other bed had at one point twelve visitors including noisy children who weren't told to be quiet or stop running.

Her and her dh's extended family were in and out all day, both days of the weekend. I'm not allowed painkillers stronger than paracetamol, as I said the room was hot and I was in so much pain. Eventually a kindly mw came in, took one look at me (it was 7pm) and said she needed to examine me and kicked everyone out. She then stayed and chatted with me until 8pm at which point visitors were no longer allowed.

I will forever be grateful to her for that hour of peace. The woman in the other bed was mortified but didn't feel able to stand up to her dh's family and tell them to bugger off she explained later that evening. I got her permission to tell them to quiet down myself the next day, and she was grateful (she'd had a traumatic birth and actually didn't want so many visitors)

I'm so glad it was my last child as the post natal ward was so awful, despite really good food and care.

I recommend everyone get to hinchingbrooke then - just like fishandjam I had a good experience on the post-natal wards there. Lovely staff, clean, quiet wards and good food. In fact, after dd was born I was moved onto a side room and I begged to go back on the ward. It was just too lonely on my own (dd was in scbu) and I missed the signs of life.

Oh, and one of the midwifes did open all our curtains, but only to suggest we all have a chat for some adult time, and recommended we talk to the lady in one of the bays who was on her 6th baby as 'she'll likely talk more sense than any of us midwives and health visitors put together!'