DD born in 2003 - waited hours at antenatal appointments. They wouldnt induce until 13 days over despite knowing that i had severe spd (was on crutches) and that the baby was large (had a growth scan done).
Went in for induction but monitoring showed i was in labour already. Was pretty much left too it the whole way through. Didnt have a clue who my first mw was. My labour was managed by them - i was never asked about what they were going to do ARM, syntocin etc. Didnt believe when epidural didnt work. Mw had a row with the consultant over helping and DD was eventually born via ventouse with episiotomy (they didnt tell me they were doing that - they just did it). After the birth DP had to help them clean up the room - they were short staffed - blood and dirty swabs etc. DD was born perfectly healthy thankfully. Then they wanted me out of the poky little room and wanted me to move myself onto the trolley - after having an epidural and SPD! DP lifted me in the end.
Then they left the drip in my arm all night but switched off. I was sent up to the ward at 4am without being given so much as a glass of water after a 16 hour labour where i hadnt been allowed anything to eat or drink. I asked for paracetamol and it took 3 hours for it to arrive.
Was told in the morning i could go home and then when it got to 3pm in the afternoon i was told i couldnt because of ventouse delivery - i had to be monitored. MWs were all miserable and made you feel like you were a total inconvenience if you asked for help. DP paid for me to have a private room the 2nd night. I wasnt checked on once - i may as well have gone home for all they knew. At 10am they said they would discharge me. DP chased them and chased them as it got to 12pm. Eventually someone came at 3pm because i just got up and started to leave.
Mw came the next day but i saw no-one for 10 days after that until the HV came.
With DS, had to attend because of high bp 3 weeks before due date. The day unit was bulgeoning with patients and i spent the first hour and a half standing up waiting. I waited for 5 hours for test results because docs were busy. They would have kept me in except they had no beds (the woman seen immediately before me was kept in with test results that were actually better than mine).
I went two days later and test results were worse. i went at 11am at 1pm they said they were keeping me in. I waited 5 hours for a bed - they finally took me up, lost my notes and i sat a further 3 hours in the visitors room before DP had a go and told them he was taking me home - i wasnt offered food, water, anything. And i was there for high bp ffs. I was in overnight, stats didnt change but they sent me home. This went on for 10 days - kept going up and being kept waiting hours and hours for results.
Finally consultant checked me to see if favourable for induction - i wasnt but his examination was so brutal that i think it helped to start things off. I went back two days later for further tests and was kept in again as they were going to induce me/c section me either way. Went into labour on my own overnight waiting for a space on delivery unit. Went down to labour ward in the morning and they decided to ARM. The mw who was asked to be with me told me she was pissed off because she was supposed to be on ward duty that day and when she turned up they told her she had to spend her shift with me. She said she wanted to go home!
After that though - she was actually really great and i couldnt fault her the whole way through.
Then after DS was born she went off duty and i had this miserable bint who rushed me off to the shower room despite me not having my bag with me. She wouldnt let dp go upstairs and get it as they were waiting for the room. I had no towel. They said they'd get for me but they didnt. I had to dry myself with a shoddy old gown whilst trying to stem the lochia. (sorry if tmi).
Went up to ward and dp had to leave straight away again. The next day they told me again id have to stay in. Was checked very irregularly. Some mws were nice. Some were total b*tches who couldnt care less. Sometimes you got painkillers when you asked, sometimes you didnt.
DS cried every half hour for a feed for the first two days. Eventually a lovely mw said, "if you really need a rest, give us a shout and we'll take him for a while" several hours later i called but the mw had changed to the stroppy one who made me shower with no towel. She told me there was no point in taking ds as he was b/feeding and if he got hungry she'd have to bring him straight back, "oh, unless, you dont mind us giving him formula from a cup ........" I told her id literally just fed him but she said it didnt matter. I cried and cried and cried. He did in fact go to sleep 20 mins later and then slept for a whole 7 hours until a doc came to check him and woke him up ffs. This was how it was the whole time some mws were nice, some were just awful. They insisted on an urgent urine sample at one point, only to come back 2 hours later to say, oh, can you do another one, we accidentally threw it away.
One mw told my dp he had to take dd home one day as she was "coughing on all the babies". I cried then too as i was so lonely with DS and if DD had to go then so did DP. Visiting hours were really poor.
When i was finally discharged after 3 days, i had to take antibiotics as they were adamant i had an infection. Except, they didnt have any in the cupboard and they were too busy to go to pharmacy. I had to wait a further 2 hours and eventually we went to the pharmacy ourselves. Even then they didnt have the full prescription adn DP had to go back to the ward to collect the rest the next day.
Oh, and no-one spotted DS had mild jaundice either.
sorry for the long post. Admittedly, no one died and both me, my DD and DS are all healthy etc but its just an awful awful place and i soooo wish i could have had them at Barnet instead.
HTH