When you gave birth,and was In Labour was the midwife in with you the whole time ?

[LardLizard]

As when I had my dd
Went into hospital at about 4cm dilated

The midwife was looking after several people, and only popped in what felt like for five mins once an hour
That went on for 8-9 hours till I was fully dilated then she stayed with me for the Pushkng part which was probably 20-30 mins I guess
Tbh I was expecting a midwife to be with me more

[Abstardust]

I did with both my pregnancies. My first was twins so had a midwife with me all times and monitored throughout.
Second midwife was there throughout too as things moved quickly, although she was a community midwife and did warn me that if she got a call for home birth she'd have to leave me.

[BackforGood]

dc1 - similar to what you described
dc2 - this : They didn't think I was in labour and so only came skidding onto the ward in time to hit the emergency bell and catch the baby
dc3 - dh had to catch her

[EB123]

Nope similar toy your experience. Even with ds3 which was high risk vba2c they didn't stay the whole time. I preferred it tbh, i don't like being fussed over in labour.

[Topseyt]

I did have one to one midwife care for all three of mine in different NHS hospitals. It was due to different complications and continuous monitoring was needed.

[sweetkitty]

Two hospital births - no with my first MW had gone on her break and the other MWs must have heard the racket I was making as I was pushing.

Two homebirths - two midwives with me all the time. I had met one of them beforehand she knew all my history, knew I had fast labours etc. It was lovely knowing the person beforehand.

[DairyisClosed]

Same experience as you. I never wanted to give birth in NHS but had no other option as there are no private birthing suites within reasonable driving distance of where we loved at the time. It was a truly horrible experience and a complete breach of their own guidelines not to mention human dignity. I understand that the NHS is grossly underfunded but surely instead of funding gender reassignment surgeries or treatment for conditions resulting from choices that patients have made services where there is no reasonable private alternative such as maternity, uninsured minors or, congenital diseases (that insurers don't tend to cover) should be prioritised for access to reasonable funds.

[annlee3817]

The midwife looking after me was keeping an eye on one of the other birthing rooms and also the women on the ward that already had their babies. She came in frequently though, and once I started pushing didn't leave my side, having been a birthing partner I wouldn't expect them to be there the whole time. Some labour's are long and there can be emergencies happening at the same time.

[PalePinkSwan]

DS1 - midwife popped in and out, when the monitors showed a sudden increase in baby’s heartbeat DH had to run to find somebody, there was nobody at all with me.

DS2 - went private and had one on one midwife with me throughout delivery and the first couple of hours after.

[Rumpledfaceskin]

Nope hardly saw her until the end. I preferred it that way. They don’t need to be watching over you constantly if it’s going ‘normally’.

[Marmite27]

Yes, she only popped out for loo breaks and to get me drugs and water through the night.

Looking back, I don’t know when she ate, but we did share a bag of sweets between the 3 of us.

Shift change and I got a senior and a student, they stayed until the end.

[katmarie]

With mine they were in and out. (NHS consultant unit) The first one broke my waters, put in a catheter and a canula, hooked me up to fluids and oxytocin, and stayed until the epidural was in and working. Then her shift finished and the next midwife came in, asked and answered a load of questions, and then strongly encouraged me to get some sleep since I was comfortable, which I did, so I really didn't need her there. She popped in and out to check on me, and did sit and chat with me a bit. The whole time felt very relaxed which was amazing since they were inducing me urgently as baby had been distressed.

When it came to the pushing stage though it was amazing, suddenly there were 6 people in the room, 2 midwives, 2 doctors (1 for me and 1 for baby,) and 2 healthcare assistants. They came, did their jobs exceptionally well, whispered congratulations and just sort of melted away when done. They were all amazing, and there precisely when I needed them and no more.

[amievenawake]

i gave birth 7 months ago and the midwife was in the room from 12PM til about 6PM when she swapped with another midwife who was in the room with me until DD was born at 8PM. i didn't realise so many people were just left to get on with it although it does make sense due to understaffing

[PandaCat]

With my first she only left the room a few times and not for very long. She also stayed on until baby was born even though her shift had finished.

With my second, we'd only arrived at hospital 7 minutes before baby was born, didn't even make it to the Labour ward.

[greathat]

Mine stayed entire time but I was high risk. In fact I had two when Ds was born as it was shift change and the first midwife was telling me she was going when she realised he was arriving

[IHateYourCarpet]

Yes, but we were on a high dependency unit.

Before we were moved there, we had one midwife floating in and out. Maybe once an hour. Plus a doctor floating too. However if you needed something, someone was there in seconds.

To be honest I preferred having one popping in and out! It's quite uncomfortable having some random person watch you for potentially hours till you're ready

[LardLizard]

It really does seem pot luck what you get,such varies experiences

[TreesAgreen]

The first time, nope I went in at 3cm to midwife lead unit, which was quiet, she popped in and out, as we did too I wondered about to the desk and to the family room and kitchen, even went for walks outside. the communication was great, they ran a bath for me, filled the pool, once I seemed to reach a point were I was seemingly further on, then she never left my side and stayed after shift to see me through to the birth, it was 8 hours of active Labour.

2nd time was in a big hospital, again just popping in a checking, the midwife was a trainee Or newly qualified, and said she felt a bit of a spare part, as me a dh knew what we were doing.

She was just leaving to get a coffee when I told her my waters had broke and ds was one push away from being born

[WinkyisbackontheButterBeer]

Yes. My hospital do one to one care.
Unfortunately, that meant that they started the induction process then got busy and wouldn’t break my waters, as they didn’t have a spare midwife, so I had VERY regular contractions for three days in hospital before they finally went on their own.
I would rather have shared a midwife tbh.

[RoseDog]

I had a midwife the whole time with both labours, in fact I had 2 with dc2 BUT the first time I was only in for 20 minutes before I delivered and the second only 6 minutes so they never had a chance to leave me!

[noshitsherloc]

I had meconium when my water went (at home) so I went straight into hospital as a high risk birth, had a mid wife all the way through (about 16 hours until an emergency C.) Also an extra midwife popping in once an hour to double check. But I was also hooked up to loads of monitors and at one point babies heart rate dropped and loads of drs come rushing in, and drs checking me towards the end. Given the choice I would of rather had a less scary and more straightforward birth with a midwife just popping in and out.

[namaste86]

Yes I had a midwife with me the whole time but I gave birth in the midwifery led birthing centre and was the only woman there. Plus I got to hospital at 6cm dilated and as soon as I arrived, labour REALLY ramped up. my waters burst and I gave birth within the hour. Only time midwife was 'away' was when she was setting up the pool in the next room.

[Marmite27]

I was in Leeds at the height of the September rush in 2015. Maternity had been closed and they were sending to other hospitals.

Though you did have to stay on maternity assessment or pre-Natal if you weren’t in active labour.

My waters had gone with no contractions, I went home for 24 hours because they were busy - if I’d have stayed in I’d probalbly just have been checked on every so often.

When I went back, my contractions were irregular and it was time to get baby moving so I was put on a drip - probably why I had constant company of a midwife from midnight to 7am, then different ones from 7am to 10am. Baby was born just before 9am.

[Stillgameforalaugh]

1st one. Induction. Waters went and they took me to the Labour suite. I had a male midwife... he was a student and he stayed 12 hours with me. When he left at shift change I was pushing and the next midwife stayed as well.
2nd... went into labour naturally. 6cm when I got to labour suite. My midwife stayed with me and she brought another in. Baby out. in under 2 hrs with 2 pushes.

[elliejjtiny]

With dc2 she popped in and out. With the others I had a midwife there all the time (dc1 was a home birth, dc3 and dc5 were inductions and dc4 was an elcs). It depends on how high risk you are.

[Branleuse]

That was also my hospital birth experience for my first baby.
Id gone in confident about my abilities and was planning on having minimal pain relief etc.
After being left pretty much alone most of it, except for someone coming in about every 45 minutes, I ended up feeling massively overwhelmed and alone and ended up having any drugs available.

My homebirths were much more supportive. I had 2 midwives for each of those. One for me, and one for the baby. The one for the baby arrived much later than the other one, but it was so SO much better to have a midwife with me while I laboured. No comparison to the experience really