How your midwife responded to you.

[Always&4ever]

Please help. I need 20 people (any age) who have been through a labour/pregnancy to give me their story (if they can) on how they coped with their midwife. Did you see the same one? How could it have been improved? What would you expect following your next pregnancy?

 

[Wobbles]

Approved

 

[lauriech]

Please help. I need 20 people (any age) who have been through a labour/pregnancy to give me their story (if they can) on how they coped with their midwife. Did you see the same one? How could it have been improved? What would you expect following your next pregnancy?

I'll do it if you want hun?

What's it for?

xxx

 

[Eiroze]

x

 

[Always&4ever]

Its for an essay i'm doing on how midwifery care can be improved, all I need is a quick brief discription on how your midwife handled your care etc.

 

[welshcakes79]

ill offer mine of you need it...
in here or on PM??

x

 

[Always&4ever]

Either hon, whatever you feel comfortable with x

 

[Eiroze]

x

 

[bubbles]

Please help. I need 20 people (any age) who have been through a labour/pregnancy to give me their story (if they can) on how they coped with their midwife. Did you see the same one? How could it have been improved? What would you expect following your next pregnancy?

I'll help hun. When I went for my booking in appointment the midwife was lovely, the next time I went back I saw another midwife who was really nice too, she explained to me that she was covering while a new midwife was found for the surgery as the previous one had cut her hours down which meant she couldn't stay at my surgery. The third one I saw was awful. She was very abrupt with me, spoke to me as though I was stupid and generally unpleasent. I saw her 3 times as I wasn't sure if it was just me being hormonal, the second time I saw her she had a student midwife in with her and she just said "this is a student midwife she will be here during the appointment" I mentiond that my hips were hurting she asked me to show her where so I did and she pratically laughed in my face and told me it was my PELVIS that was hurting and left it at that. The third time I took DH with me so he could give me a second opinion so to speak, again I mentioned my hips/pelvis and this time she said she would refer me for physio at the end of the appointment I had to mention it again only for her to tut at me roll her eyes and say she would do it now. I ended up making a complaint about her to the doctors and head of midwifery at the hospital. Her manager called me we discussed the option of me going back to see this particular midwife and I said No so she said she would see me instead. At 30weeks I went into pre term labour which was stopped with Atosiban and I was told I would be under the care of a consultant from then on. I kept phoning the hospital for the appointment but they kept fobing me off. I went to my appointment with the manager and mentioned it to her, now although she was very friendly she said there was no point in me wasting time waiting for an appointment with the consultant. I was a little annoyed that she hadn't taken my feelings into consideration and thought about how worried I was but left it as I didn't want to stress out. When I actually had LO the midwives on the maternity ward weren't that nice but the manager did come to see how I was doing. The Midwives in labour ward were absolutely brilliant, the one that took care of me during the night was really helpful (she even shooed my MIL away for me at 8am) the ones that helped deliver were fantastic even took LO for me while I had a bath and sleep (very long labour and no sleep). The ones on the post natal ward were a mix some were brilliant some were awfull but the midwife that came to my house was the one I had booked in with and she was brilliant. The next time I will be going private and will not go near the one at the surgery. Hope this helps, if you need anything else just ask x

 

[princess_bump]

Did you see the same one? How could it have been improved? What would you expect following your next pregnancy?

i'll do it jazzy for you now honey will edit and pop in this thread xx

My mw was a community mw, arranged through my gp surgery, she covers this area, and i mainly saw her throughout my pregnancy and whilst in labour. i was also under consultant led care at my hospital for pcos and raised bmi.

The mw team that dealt with my were ok, there care during my pregnancy was good, and i was seen regularly, and the after care however, wasn't very good - i left hospital 24hours following my 40hour labour and emergency c-section, and then got a very bad infection and my wound opened up, and i also haemorrhaged, the mw's failed to spot any of this, they wouldn't come out to see me and my gp surgery had to take over. i ended up seeing an out of hours doc, as it was the weekend, and the hospital couldn't tell me if i'd actually go back and see a doc that night my recovery, imo, was hindered by this. it took my around 8 weeks post partum to begin to feel normal again.

my community mw, who i saw mainly, was however, terrible. she was rude, and constantly put me down over my weight, and where i lived! she even questioned if james was maddi's dad at one point. she seems to turn after i told her about the private scans i had. i was highly disappointed with her, as i was a nervous first time pregnant mum, and needed reassurance, and i felt she played on my insecurities. even my gp commented on how i'd changed and became so nervous and worried following my experiences with this mw. she never explained any thing, and blamed everything that happened during my pregnancy on being over weight, when i was actually losing it due to being sick every day of my whole 41 week term.

next pregnancy i will be more self-assured and will stick up for myself more! i will refuse to see this community mw, and i will make sure my needs are heard. i think its hard enough being first time pregnant, and worrying about whats going to happen, as its all so new, exciting and a worrying time, that i certainly didn't need her treating me like an idiot x

 

[Zarababy1]

I had two comunity midwifes one was young and one was older the younger one was quite nice but she always seemed rushed and never remberd me every time i saw her i would have liked her to have been a little bit more personal rarther than making me feel like a another number! the older one was quite abbupt and kind of had the attitude of "billions of women have done it before you have stop beeing a silly little girl" altho she never really said that that was how she made me feel! anyway as for my midwifes while i was in labor i had one who was really nice but she had to leave for shift change but she came back in too see me after, and my 2nd midwife was amazing she really was, i dont rember much about her untill after i actually had charlie but she was birlliant, both hospital mw were loads better than the comunity ones who just treat you like another number!

 

[polo_princess]

Heres mine Jazzy

My midwife was brilliant ... i saw the same one throughout my pregnancy bar the last appointment. She was always very kind and helpful and even sorted all of my paperwork when i wanted to change hospitals. The only moan i ever had was waiting times at the clinic.

Only thing i think could be improved was her availabilty of appointments towards the end, i was sligtly disappointed that i couldnt get to see her for my last appointment before birth and had to see someone else.

Labour wise i had 3 different midwives, including a student, all were very helpful and kind, made me feel completely at ease during labour. The midwife who actually delivered Brooke stayed after her shift to make sure she delivered her and that we were ok. She even looked after my OH and brought him some food fron the canteen to eat.

Overall i cant complain about how i was treated and if i get the same next time i will be more than happy

Hope this helps Jazzy

 

[Always&4ever]

Thanks soo much girls x

 

[Rachiebaby24]

Dont even know who my MW was? Saw three before I had Maley (all different - holiday cover i was told) then saw one three weeks after I had Maley (supposed to see one a few days after the birth at home but she never turned up) After chasing the one who came to my home, she just felt my belly, weighed Maley, said she was underweight and to feed her more and left Didnt even ask me how i am.

Bearing in mind this was my first baby....i was really disappointed. Good job I didnt have PND or any other probs and I have a great family and OH.

 

[Rachiebaby24]

oh and labour wise....dont remember her. She was hardly there and once Maley and placenta was out, we were left to it. My mum was fuming and shocked.

 

[Gwizz]

Please help. I need 20 people (any age) who have been through a labour/pregnancy to give me their story (if they can) on how they coped with their midwife. Did you see the same one? How could it have been improved? What would you expect following your next pregnancy?

I'll do it babes if u still need it? ....

I had the same midwife as my 'main midwife' throughout although she was a community midwife I never saw her at the birth. A couple of times towards the end of my pregancy she wasnt available to do my appointments so I had her collegue - always one of the two women I saw. I also had a student sit in on 2 occasions and was asked if I minded them being there, I said I didnt. At the birth the midwife's work on a shift system and are a completely different 'team' to the community ones - for the birth itself I only had 1 midwife throughout from start to finish.

The system as a whole in the West Midlands/Staffordshire could be improved as if there were any problems I had to ring 1 telephone number between 9am - 9:30am Mon-Friday which was extremely unsuitable because of the size of the geographical area and the amount of people ringing it - it was constantly engaged.

Any questions - please ask away!

 

[reallytinyamy]

my community midwife nearly killed me, the senior midwife at the hospital missed my waters breaking and i was left for 4 days, the midwife that delivered chloe sat in the corner of the room reading her magazine, ignored my birth plan, didnt tell me my blood pressure was so high i might need a section, just disscussed it in the corner with a colleague.

Let me know if you want the full story!!!!

 

[sam*~*louize]

I started with one midwide who was lovely, but surgery was having a whole change about so i got a new one. was a bit apprehensive but she was fantastic. ALways remembered me, what was going on, booked me in extra appointments when I needed, had her mobile number and was always told who to call when her's was off. OH worked so she always helped with the timing of appointments. Pleasant, helpful and would love to have her (if there is a next time!)

Labour - actually can't fault that either. Water's broke and got checked by a midwife and sent home. Back 2 hours later fully dilated, same midwife, on and she delivered Layla. Her shift changed not long after and she was going on hols, she was encouraging, praising me, reassuring me when things weren't oing to plan (HB, episiotomy etc) Only thing is I wish I'd been internally checked when water's went as 2 hours later i was back, in agony and fully dilated.

HTH

 

[Heavenx]

Please help. I need 20 people (any age) who have been through a labour/pregnancy to give me their story (if they can) on how they coped with their midwife. Did you see the same one? How could it have been improved? What would you expect following your next pregnancy?

Hope I can be of some help with my reply!

I'm 33 (if that makes any difference?) Sophia was my first and I saw pretty much the same midwife throughout pregnancy except for a couple of appointments where she was absent for whatever reason and I saw someone else.
I thought she was OK until there was a sheet (I think it was the sheet for measuring our bumps) that she was supposed to attach to the green notes but she didn't have any with her at this particular appointment so she sent it to me in the post but told me Sssh! Don't let any other MW's know because they'll think she's irrisponsible for not having had one on her at the appointment when she should have.

At another appointment she didn't have any needles to take a blood sample that I needed to check a condition she knew about!

I didn't receive some paper work that I was later informed about when in hospital (something to do with taking some of babies blood within her first 3 days to check for congenital heart disease).

My MW told me baby was head down when I went to a check up at 34 weeks (A scan showed at 28 weeks my baby was breech and at that 34 week appointment my instincts told me my MW was wrong) a scan showed that she was indeed wrong!

I received terrible aftercare whilst in hospital, after having had a CS and when I informed my MW of this once I was back home, she told me she would arrange for the head community MW to come and see me but it never happened.

All in all I felt let down by my MW, I feel that the standard of care was not good enough, I hope but don't expect things to have improved by the time I have my next pregnancy.

If I could afford private care from a MW I would.

Hope that might help with your essay? Oh and good luck with it!

 

[Laura--x]

I'll do it too hun x

My Midwife was a community midwife. I met her through my surgery, after having my first appt with my dr to confirm the pregnancy. At first i was terrified, of course because i was so young, i thought i would automically get 'down graded'. But tbh, i could not of asked for a better midwife, and even more so, a friend.

I saw her throughout my whole pregnancy. She always put me first and thought of me, if i had a problem ( whether it was tiny or big ) she would always be there for me. I had numerous non booked appointments jsut because i felt off or i was a bit concerned, and not once did she moan or complain. She always re-assured me and made me feel at ease.

When i had the scare at my 20 week appt with the baby having a chance of being CF or downs, i rang her straight away and told her, and she went out of her way to come and visit me at home to comfort me and talk me through all of what happend. ( The consultant who done the scan told me nothing, all she said was the bowel was brighter than usual and that it was a sign of downs or cf, and that id need to come back for blood tests and another scan!) So of course i was worried as hell, but after speaking to the midwife, she reassured me that it COULD be nothing, and it happens alot!

I always thought she was the one who would deliver my baby, so when i found out she wasnt i was devostated!! I felt so comfortable and at ease with her, but even though she didnt deal with hospital births, she told me when i go into labor to phone her and if shes free she would come up and help me through the birth! ( I didnt though, because it was 2.30 in the morning!)

Overall, she was an amazing midwife and an even better friend. I couldn't ask for more, and i pray to god i get her through my next pregnancy!

xx

EDIT: Labor wise.. i had a midwife who i actually saw during one of my appoitments. I felt better because i knew her, and she was great aswell x