Midwives not helping after C-section

[Emma5557]

Hello, before making an official complaint I want to be sure I am on the right side.
I got an emergency C-section at around 2am and after that I was moved to the post natal ward. The midwifes who followed me during the labour were excellent and told me to ask for help to the midwifes on the post natal ward anytime considering I could not move for the surgery. On the same day in the afternoon I got my catheter removed and I was able to walk, but still in pain while standing (obviously!). Most midwifes told me I needed to do things by myself like going from the the room to the end of the corridor to grab a bottle of water, or even lift up my luggage to take the clothes for my baby. How on earth am I supposed to lift a luggage after not even 24h from the C-section?!

Of course it's best to get up & about afterwards to aid recovery but not to be treated as a burden to services wouldn't go a miss.

I believed that health care professionals chose that career path to actually care?

@Emma5557 unfortunately my experience was similar. I didn’t have a section, I was induced as my pelvis gave way a few days before my due date.
2 hours after delivery (after 3 days immobile on my couch having to use a bedpan due to my pelvis - they wouldn’t take me into hospital due to covid. And after a 39 hour induction and labour) I was put in a room alone on the ward with my baby, a pair of crutches and my luggage piled in a corner. I sat perched on the end of my bed from 5am-3pm as I couldn’t swing my legs in or out of bed. It took me 10 minutes to walk with my crutches to the toilet in my room and back and I was having to stand with my crutches trying to change a crying baby and trying to learn how to breastfeed on my own.
I buzzed and asked for help with feeding...A lady came in and showed me a knitted boob and a doll and how baby should be positioned then left. A midwife came in and gave me an injection then left. Apart from that the only person I seen was the doctor that done my sons full check up.
I couldn’t walk to the room at the end of the corridor to get food so I had none despite me asking if it was possible for someone to bring a sandwich or something.
At 3pm I eventually demanded just to be let home. I was so mentally drained and just wanted home with my baby.

@Emma5557

You posted just before 6am - how are you feeling now? Any change in your care?

@MsHedgehog Poor woman has probably been frightened off the thread by the psychotic first answers telling her she is failing asking for help after a c section

I'd say you have no basis for a complaint, with my C-section which also happened at 2am, they removed my catheter around 7am that morning, occasionally came in to check blood pressure & give me pain relief and that was it, I was in the ward for 4 days post birth and they didn't help with anything other than giving medication, occasional incision checks and general medical checks. Other than that you're left on your own. I think I was up and moving around about 8am once I could feel my legs again.
Usually they want you up and walking around and going to the toilet as quickly as possible, yes it's painful and you have to take things slowly for the first couple of days but you just get on with it, keep your luggage next to the bed so you can just reach down and grab whatever you need if you can't lift it.

@alfieum I really hope not, but I fear you may be right. Hopefully she'll come back to see the more realistic answers that a c-section is still major surgery and she needs help and support.

The last thing a woman needs when she's most vulnerable is the wrong message about pain and discomfort.

@NeedCoffeeToSurvive

So because you got crap care others should just accept it?

Poor advice telling someone to reach down and grab something straight after a section

Of course you should complain.
I find the answers by some people to this thread shocking.
New mothers should be treated with kindness and compassion- and hospitals should employ enough staff to support them. (doesn't need to be just midwives- care assistants or whatever they are called too).

Sorry I haven't RTFT but....

As shit as it is, I don't think your experience is uncommon. I had a surgical delivery with high forceps (full spinal block, catheter etc.) and was left to it entirely, without the support of a partner on the ward. Another woman's husband very kindly went to get me breakfast from down the ward because I couldn't actually walk.

Interestingly, in the bed next to me was a nurse (who had just given birth) and she got the gold star treatment because she knew how to complain. She ended up being moved to a private room on request when I'd been told there weren't any.

I didn't know what to ask or how to ask for it, so just shuffled around in agony, as do most women. Post natal care really is barbaric, but I don't think it's the fault of overworked hospital midwives. It's a systemic problem of undervaluing and underfunding women's health.

I didn't have a c-section, but I ended up in surgery after giving birth and wasn't able to move for the first night- and partners were banned overnight.
When I buzzed a midwife came (I remember it feeling like ages with a crying baby- but I think it was probably 5 minutes or so..). The next night when I was struggling to sleep and feed a baby and buzzed for help someone also came- sometimes it was the midwife and other times it was a care assistant who mostly helped by listening to my sleep deprived self. I think it made a big difference to my first few days.
That's how it should be. Although I think there was an element of luck as i know there were some mums in the same hospital around the same time who did have problems.

I had a c section a year ago and after an initial day where they wanted me in bed (found this out after a took myself off for a shower because I couldn't bear lying around in so many bodily fluids, but nearly fainted) after that they actively wanted me standing up straight and moving around. Very strange. There were some things I just couldn't do though so I was very fortunate my husband helped me put socks on and change my tena lady etc bless him.

Get home asap. Postnatal is awful. I didn't have a C-section and spent two nights in hospital and the standards are so so low. I was there because of me, not baby and the ward was filthy, men were fed before the ladies and requests for pain relief were just ignored. Dreadful places.

When you get home, complain to PALS. No excuse for lack of care in what is meant to be a caring environment.

When I have my baby this summer, I will be discharging myself immediately as long as my baby is ok. You cannot get better in those places.

In no other part of the NHS would you be treated after such major surgery the way you are after a CS.

This.

I've had three CS and aftercare was patchy to say the least. Some midwives/assistants were very supportive and managed to get a balance between helping me and also encouraging mobility. A couple were, to be honest, downright nasty. I wish I had have complained at the time.

Its terrible what people seem to accept as normal and OK when it comes to postnatal care.

If its any help at all (probably not to the OP, but to others scared about having c-sections), I don't think its a universal experience. I have no doubt that many women suffer on postnatal wards, and that the staff are crazily overworked, but I expect good experiences don't get reported in the same way.

My sections were pre-covid, but one of the first things the midwives did on the ward, was to show me the buzzer, and insist that I should use it for anything, because thats what its there for. When my husband was there I didn't use it much, but when he went home I used it when I needed it during the night. They picked the baby up and handed her to me, and put her back again, got me formula when requested, and they sorted her nappies for me (I didn't ask for this, I think they thought they may as well given they'd picked her up).

Food was delivered to the bed, as was postnatal toast and snacks made by the staff. Water jugs were given, and cups of tea provided (including sneakily to my husband). This was the same for everyone, not just the section patients. Food was cooked in the hospital kitchen rather than shipped in, and was a decent standard.

I was offered discharge both times after one night, but they said that I could stay for longer if I wished. Both times I stayed an extra night. They offered me a stay for night 3 as well, but I was very ready to come home then. They were encouraging of us to get moving, but respectful of us doing it at our own speed.

It wasn't perfect. The drugs rounds were often late, and they didn't tell us that we could request medication in the middle of the night, which would have been useful, but they genuinly tried.

It probably wasn't coincidence that at the time I was there, there was about a 1:3 staffing ratio (including midwives and assistants), so they had the time. I expect it would have been different if busier.

But that's the care you should be getting, and that's the care which some women get. FOr all my mollycoddling and care, I was back to normal within a week both times, so I think my body benefited from the rest.

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time. The good thing with sections is that the recovery curve is quite steep - its likely that you'll be feeling a lot better today than yesterday, and by tomorrow, much better again, so hopefully should be feeling more yourself soon.

It is institutional sexism. Husband had a much milder surgery last year and kept saying it really brought home to him the brutality of post natal.

My neighbor was in a coma for a week after her last child, she was told she was making a fuss and to ambulate. She collapsed alone in the toilet and hemorrhaged from a rupture. She had said she did not feel right or strong enough to be walking around and the attitude was 'just get on with it'. It was her third baby and she knew herself but wasn't listened to. We know what we can and can't manage and that should be respected.

@Opticabbage

Sounds totally normal but you should complain, as should all women in the same situation. Immediate aftercare is often terrible. We all put up with it because we're so grateful our babies have been delivered safe and well, but it's really not good enough.

This x1000. It’s not normal, it’s not ok.

I'm torn with this one, on the one hand the wards are understaffed and they work so hard just covering basics that attending to one persons every whim isn't realistic, but that doesn't mean that women shouldn't have or don't deserve help with essentials when they need it.

I think a lot of it comes from how you ask and how you are with them. Eg. Rude or demanding patients are less likely to have staff going the extra mile.

Ime it's encouraged to do things for yourself after a c-section and sitting or lying around does nothing to help recovery. There is very little you are advised not to do after a CS.

Rather than complain- which is a bit of a dick move in most cases because the emotional charge behind it tends to remove any rational or constructive aspect- you could contact PALS and relay your experiences so they can decide how to address it, maybe your message cascade to the ward so they are are aware.

This brings it all back. I said no more nhs babies after my first two, and I moved back to Australia.

Wow! Yes - mobilisation is good, but you have just had major surgery. Gentle mobilisation - walking to the loo, getting some water, washing hands - all good! Bending, lifting, carrying anything heavier than your baby, not good.

If you feel your needs weren’t met, perhaps feed back. Things only change when we do this. Just because lots of us experience lack of care - doesn’t mean it’s right or okay! I know they are under funded, but by accepting this and not making a fuss all we are doing is saying that this situation is okay - and it isn’t!

OP - if you feel you weren’t adequately cared for - and by that I mean left feedback, whether to the hospital itself or to your local MP who is connected to the purse strings.

Suffering after surgery doesn’t need a badge of honour and generally only seems to be universally accepted after childbirth . Take care and congratulations x

This is not the case in all hospitals, although a terrifying read.
I've had a c section and the after care was great, essex hospital. Even closed the ward because they were so busy, I never went without.
I'm due another c section in June and yes I'm worried as my husband b can't be there, but after speaking to someone who recently had a c section there under lock down conditions, she couldn't fault the care either.
It's a very emotive topic, hormones and new baby included I do think sometimes we under estimate what we are capable of, or take things to heart. Not saying that some of the things mentioned here aren't worthy, but I don't see the issue with pottering to grab a cup of water. If you need help and it isn't coming, be persistent.

This is a really scary read and it isn’t acceptable at all. Sorry this is happening to you OP and I hope you are ok. It’s silly to say don’t complain as the staff are busy or not the right staff to ask...whatever the cause the end result is that appropriate care isn’t being given and it needs to be pointed out. It needn’t be taken as a complaint about individual staff, it’s up to the service provider to work and where and how things are going wrong.

It’s dangerous that women are being advised to leave hospital ASAP even against medical advice, just to access basic care and support.

I may have to have an elective caesarean and threads like this (there are many) honestly make me feel like trying to go private which we can not well afford just for the safety of my baby.

What you need is a kind, empathetic MW that understands your needs and will help and encourage you to be more mobile and show how to breastfeed and to care for yourself and your baby - and of course offering you suitable pain relief to help you during those awkward first few days after your major abdominal surgery.

Or you could look for a unicorn.

Famous London maternity hospital 18 years ago. HCA so kind and caring, mopped my tears on a few occasions, or maybe it was the lady bringing my supper, definitely a "lower" rung. Midwives and doctors incredibly unsupportive, apart from one v kind older midwife near end of my stay. a week in with twins after a c section. They forgot my pain relief at one point too. My husband couldnt visit because our toddler had an eye infection, but I really needed someone to advocate, and as you say fetch and carry. I think not looking after me affected the babies, because I couldnt feed them properly and my stay ws then extended because their birth weights dropped dramatically. So a false economy to neglect mother's recovery after a caesarian.

I think this is fairly normal unfortunately! They pretty much left me to get on with things but if I asked they did help, I just felt I wasn't really supposed to ask. It was a bit of a shock because they were great when I really needed them to be but I think they just don't have the resources to staff post natal wards properly!

Looking back, the midwives were trying to support me by getting me discharged as quickly as possible despite me beseeching them to help me with feeding issues. The tickbox exercise where they would write mum coping well, baby feeding well etc, was suddenly jettisoned by evidence of babies' dehydration and losing a pound each (at starting point of 6 and 5 pounds). Suddenly they couldnt discharge me, but I wonder whether mums were routinely discharged earlier than the evidence warranted because the midwives knew mother and baby did so much better at home in most cases.