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Bassetlaw District General Hospital 2021-05-30 Person 4 5 0

I was extremely stressed/nervous/scared as a first time mum having an induction of labour. Midwife Bev and MSW Pamela were absolutely amazing at making sure I felt safe, comfortable and whilst the induction was being done and when being discharged. The staff on shift the night of my induction were fabulous too. Midwife Mel who was on shift the night of my induction was great at making sure I was settled when my waters broke and my contractions started. Again, I was stressed and nervous and she was so helpful as was the MSW on shift but I don’t remember her name. Mel also was the midwife on shift when I was in labour and was so great at keeping my partner involved and myself updated as I wasn’t in my right frame of mind due to painkillers and having an emergency C section. She made sure I was being updated about everything that was happening to me and my baby. Going onto labour ward when I was in my latent phase of labour, midwife Olivia made me feel very silly and belittled. I was being induced due to reduced movement and I hadn’t felt my baby move for a few hours so I asked her if my baby was ok as I haven’t felt her yet and her response was “well, are you awake at this time usually to feel her?”. When a doctor came in to the room she was a different person and was happy to give me care but when alone she made me feel very stupid for asking questions. I understand she must get the questions often but as a first time mum, these questions are important for me to know the answer. I also asked her when my partner can come onto the ward as he was outside, she said “when I’m finished”, as she said that there was a knock on the door and my partner had found his way inside. I didn’t realise he was in the building and she said to me “oh so you’ve already said he can come in then”. She was doing all my checks and whatever it was she needed to do for 30 minutes prior to him coming in so she could see I hadn’t even picked up my phone to call him. The next midwife on shift was Laura who was absolutely amazing along with Lauren from the Lotus team. I can’t fault either of them, they were so supportive and helpful. I was getting worked up and stressed and they were fantastic. The doctors were all great too and the student midwives. When I returned to A2, the day staff were amazing. Midwife Alison and MSW Theresa were great at making sure I was comfortable and settled. Any questions I had about my aftercare was answered in a way that I didn’t feel stupid for asking and Theresa helped me with breastfeeding my baby, helping me to the shower, getting on and off the bed and just being there to support me in anyway I needed. That night, I was struggling to feed my baby as she wouldn’t latch well. It turns out she has a tongue tie. I pressed my buzzer for help to get out of the bed, less than 24 hours since having an emergency C section, and Midwife Kerry’s response was “you need to be trying to pick your baby up and get out of bed yourself”. I was really really struggling after being in labour for 24 hours, fully dilated and having to have surgery. She made me feel belittled for changing my baby on the bed rather than standing up to do it in the cot. Then when I was breastfeeding my baby and I couldn’t get her to latch, I felt so pressured into giving her a bottle of formula which I really did not want to do! She walked away saying “aww look she’s drank 20ml, she must’ve been hungry bless her”, after looking at the bottle myself I saw that only 7/8ml had been taken and the majority of it was spat out. I expressed my colostrum for her and gave her what I needed to. She soon settled down. Overall I had a very good experience on A2 ward. Other than the issues I had, my experience was great.

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