Is this unusual?

[RoxyFox211]

When I went into labour (about 3 years ago), the ward was full so additional beds on other wards were used. I didn't go in until id been in labour about 12 hours (I rang when contractions started and kept getting told to wait). When I arrived I was sent for a walk after standing in the waiting room for half an hour. I wasn't checked. I asked for gas and air just to be looked at like I was mad and told there was none. After an hour of begging I finally got a diamorphine injection. No checks. About 10 mins post injection I felt strong urges to push. Luckily my mum was there (who this time demanded my dilation was checked before I started pushing) the woman came over grumpily checked then asked me "how far along do y ou want to be love?" I (drugged up) "umm...", lady "well your 10cms...get her to labour ward". I'm wheeled out at which point diamorphine is kicking in hard (lush) and contractions stop, final pushing stage takes 5hours and I could quite happily of dozed off half way through.
Noone believes it when I tell them, specially the part about no gas and air. But that's exactly how it happened. I feel like they saw a young woman and assumed I couldn't handle pain and had come in hours too early when in actuality I'd probably have a had a more straight forward birth at home! I feel the whole process was slowed down by having no bed, not being checked and having diamorphine due to the lack of gas and air. Was this bad treatment or pretty standard on the labour ward?

That does all sound like you weren't really being cared for or listened to properly.

I can't really say if this is normal or not though as I've never given birth in hospital - I think you are right to consider a home birth next time.....you get a designated mw, they listen to the baby's heart beat regularly and stay with you until the baby is born.

Was this bad treatment or pretty standard on the labour ward?

The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive...

There are number of hospitals across the UK that on a regular basis close their wards due to be overcrowded and are unable to take new admissions. Some hospitals are effectively turning away women once every three days.

An article about over stretched maternity wards from the Telegraph.

Strangely the legal bill for medical negligence is going sky high at the moment, and maternity related claims represent the majority of claims. This is despite the fact that there has supposed to be a government drive to get more midwives in the midst of a baby boom. Midwives that have not actually been recruited because of squeezed maternity budgets which are completely separate from any budget for compensation.

Link the two and I rather suspect you'd see the problem vastly reduce overnight... rocket science it is not.

Crikey- it makes the whole home birth situation seem a lot more appealing, however there is still the risk of not having immediate access to the same level of equipment and expertises. This was the sole reason for choosing the hospital first time. Not that there's any point having any more of a birth plan than that if your in hospital imo.

Red- yeah definitely agree. It's not the staffs fault, they are over stretched and am sure the majority of them are really doing the best they can under limited funding and other restrictions. The truth is they really don't have the time or resource to care about your 'birth plan' or anything. Just want to get the baby out safetly by any means necessary. I did need a vontouse at the end and this was a really rush job because the person who made the epsitome for it had to be somewhere else immediately.

Sounds about standard to me. No one bothered checking me at all when I had dd2. I spent all night in soaked sheets (had to ask for them to be changed" my waters had broken that evening but I wasn't having contractions but things started kicking off in the morning. My requests for G&A were ignored til someone finally actually told me that it wasn't available where I was. They seemed so cock sure I had hours as i hadnt been contracting long that no one even botherd to speak to me. When they did they told me they were to busy down stairs to take me down. Funnily enough when they actually did examin me I was 8cm and had been bleeding so they took me down practically running. Even then they were still unaware of the urgency and pissed off out the room once they had flown about shoving canulas in my arm and god knows what else.

If it hadn't been for dp they'd had missed it.

Your story doesn't surprise me at all.

That sounds horrible. The wet sheet thing gets me the most because it's such a basic form of hygiene yet not catered for as its noones specific most important job.
Overnight when I was in I heard mothers post c-section being told off for not catering to crying babies even though they'd been told not to, and couldn't physically, move.
It's sad because most people assume the staff have it all under control. Its easy to put all your faith in them and assume they know best but they are obviously so busy and over stretched all the time it's impossible for them to get it right it many cases.
I feel people expect a lot more tlc in labour than they receive. Probably due to programmes like one born every miniute, as if that's how it's going to be- room to yourself admitted at 2cms and lots of cups of tea!
Having said that, Its irritating the way the papers and government are always scape goating nhs workers (so when wages and funding are cut there isn't as much public support & uproar as there should be), when they're the ones who constantly cut funding and don't facilitate a productive work environment. I know it's not a bottomless pit and I don't have all the answers. Just having a general moan think it really puts me off going through it again. Pain wasnt too bad but having no support & bed and being made to feel silly, small and stupid weren't great.

I have spent lots of time on antenatal wards but never during labour. I don't see the point of going in and being admitted to a ward other than labour ward. Probably due to having been there do frequently!

Women who go in and stay in the early stages of labour do seem to end up taking forever to get to the second stage. I'm no midwife but I don't think the environment helps, it is very public and not easy to get comfortable in.

To be honest I think it's individual staff not always the "staffing situation"

I've had fab treatment from people who have been rushed and exhausted and people who have stayed after their shifts ended just to follow it through. And I've had appalling treatment from people assigned to me. Stressed I can forgive. It's the way they didn't give a shit or act like you aren't there that annoy me. You can kind of tell if that's the way someone is rather than just being busy if that makes sense.