has anyone ever done that thing where you go back to the hospital after to discuss an element of the birth you werent happy with?

[swottybetty]

It's got a proper name hasnt it? It's been 6 months since dd was born and i've sinced moved out of the area, but I'd still like register how appalled i was at the complete lack of care of support i got on the postnatal ward. has anyone else done anything similar and how best to go about it? also i am keen to find out why i was even kept in overnight after birth. dd born at 9.42am, induced and epidural but no intervention all straightforward.

and carmen yes i will get my notes. looking forward there being positives there! do remember rifling thru them the day after while still in hospital and reading "seems distressed because she cant comfort baby" or some such . i've a big bad history of depression and was hospitalised loads in my teens. all fine now, no probs for god a decade or so, but all my antenatal care was under a team at the hospital specially for women at high risk of PND or such (in fact my carre had been transferred from a dif hospital at 20wks just to be supervised by this team). so even on the front of my book it said the team name in big letters!.... ultimatley my distress was just exhaustion and confusion but those first few hours are such a flashpoint for proper probs. oh GGGGRRRRRRRRR. i had not realised how annoyed i still am.

You have every right to be angry, the memory of this kind of stress lingers a long time. I found several aspects of DD1's (hospital) birth quite traumatic, and I got my stroppy shoes on and made sure none of it happened at DD2's birth, and staying at home was part of it.

Have a good long think, write it all down include every little detail, and send one copy to the hospital as a complaint, and show the other copy to the team looking after you this time, and tell them you want to makes sure it doesn't happen to you again.

How do you go about getting your notes? I want to see what the mw put on the night before I had dd. It was traumatic to say the least

bump as would like to try to get mynotes too I ended up with an emcs and not alot of explanation plus the surgeon cut dd cheek in rush to get her out and she needed stitches.

access to notes if you write to Medical records Dept to request and state reason.they may charge a fee.PALS (patient Advisory Laiasion service) can also help you phone and book appt

be prepared you might find it uncomfortable,could someone go with you they will contain medical abbreviations/jargon etc

you can see them at hospital or photocopied. may take number of weeks to process

they can refuse if they feel it is detrimental to your health/well being or cause deterioration

We have a birth reflections service. I went about a year after I had an emcs with DS. Partly to clarify how my labour and cs came about and partly to get it off my chest how bad the post-natal care was (I never got round to writing a letter of complaint). TBH I knew the emcs was very much needed but it was helpful going through my notes. I had been brooding over the whole experience and talking to someone about it gave me 'closure'. I really recommend it.

swottybetty, have a good look at homebirth. had same feelings as you, see my old thread and links here

in terms of 'how long' before a complaint expires, i think it must be pretty much forever now. my cousin who is 42, was born profoundly cerebral palsied as result of negligent care in a cottage hospital and health care boundary that don't even exist anymore...but just 3 years ago she was awarded 1.2 million from the current nhs. so clearly the hwole statue of limitations on this is LONG

just realised all my links don't cover fact that my return to ds1's hospital included close review of equipment used, and they updated equipment available and trained staff to try and avoid mistake they made with me again (used normal cuff on my fat arm and got false high BP reading, leading to pointless induction)

To get your notes just ring medical records and they send you a form where you fill in your details and hospital number if you know it. Indicate what notes you want.i.e green hand held notes, antenatal postnatal etc and they write back informing you how much it will cost. Then you send a cheque and they post the photocopied notes to know. Doesnt take long. A couple of wks maybe.