Midwives and antenatal are disgusting. Advice?

[FirstTimeMum6666]

Hi

I'm 37 weeks pregnant with my first.
I have had hg from week 5, SPD from week 20, hospital on drip and taking injections from week 33 and have had my midwife changed 3 times!!

They said they want to scan me every week as the feeding tube to my baby is higher than it should be so they want to scan to keep an eye on it and make sure she is growing. I haven't received an app for this week so I called Friday to ask woman on desk said they got to wait for midwife to get back to them and will call that afternoon, I heard nothing! Yesterday I called about it and received the same answer and she promised me she would call by the evening again another lie! So I called this morning and the woman on antenatal desk said she can't do anything and will put me through to midwife I was on hold for so long then got hung up on. I called back and the same woman answered being snotty " I told I can't do anything! I'll put you through to midwives!" As I was replying she cut me off!!
This whole pregnancy I have had trouble getting hold of any midwife yet I was told I could call whenever about anything. I keep calling the midwife unit and not one person will answer! I'm so upset and angry and don't know what to do 😭😭😭😭😭😭 any advice please I'm worried about feeding tube to my baby

Oh that sounds so stressful and I agree, I found it massively difficult to speak to anyone.

Can you try another ward like Maternity assessment? Did they give you some different numbers in your book?

Do.you mean you have a velamentous or marginal umbilical cord insertion?

I can't believe they use terms like feeding tube! Hope you reach someone OP

I don’t think the terminology is relevant in this instance - the OP is worried about her baby and feeling unwell.
I would suggest asking to speak to the midwifery lead, or failing that Patient Advocacy, Liaison and Support (PALS) . They were very helpful in our area when I had access problems.
I hope you get some reassurance soon OP and all goes well with pregnancy and delivery.

I'm sorry you're going through this. Maternity Voices Partnership are the PALS for maternity services. They helped me when I had an issue with my care. If you Google Maternity Voices Partnership you will find the contact details for the service that covers your NHS Trust. You can email them feedback on your experience and they forward it to the senior leadership team within midwifery services in your area. They will also make sure that you get a proper response.

If you are at all concerned my advice is to go to triage and refuse to go anywhere else until you are seen by a midwife and scanned if necessary. I had the same shitty experience and nobody was available for the scan that THEY had said was needed, so I parked myself in triage for 4 hours until it got sorted as I was getting nowhere on the phone.

Not all areas have walk in maternity triage. Ours is phone only, and you can only get into the actual building if they are expecting you and let you in.
I hope that OP has decent services, but if by any chance she is in an area with less than steller services, she might find it hard to do that. Although, do, OP if you can!

I believe it is relevant, the named abnormalities of the cord absolutely need closer monitoring in the last months, and that's why I asked. If the OP knows exactly what she has, then she can be more informed and more assertive.

And, repeating myself, I do hope you get seen OP

Please let us know how you are getting on

OP find the name of their Director of Maternity services or the names of their leads on the trust website and write to complain. That's what I did and from then on no one messed around with me again. Good luck

Oh this is such a worry for you OP. Theres a massive shortage of midwives nationally but even if fully staffed, there would still be poor midwives within that.