what did u expect at the hospital?

[alice&bump]

Well I thought all my care was good. Yes the food could have been better, but you don't really go to hospital for the food. I didn't get a nurse to shower me but unlike the girl on the tv programme, I didn't expect it! To people who want to be waited on hand and foot I would suggest maybe having a home birth so your husband/ mum/ whoever can see to you and leave the trained midwives to get on with the job of delivering babies!

I'm also shocked by some of the stories on here and I now realise how lucky I was.

i had no choice, but to have someone help me, i wasnt allowed out of bed on my own as my BP was really low and i'd had a spinal. i delivered in the middle of the night and OH had to go pretty much straight after. it would just have been nice not to hae been lying in my own blood for hours after the birth.

part of the trained midwives job is aftercare. i didnt want waiting on hand and foot, i justt wanted to be clean.

 

[kalouk]

I had a similar experience to alot of ladies on here, My midwife was absolutely fantastic, when she first came in I thought OMG she looks about fifteen but she was amazing, she had just qualified and was so enthusiastic about her job and she may have been young but she stood her ground and saved me from having a C section. She held off the surgical team single handedly
BUT the post labour ward was a disgrace, like others I had an epidural, catheter and was having intraveinous fluids but was just left with Eva, like others I was stuck in a filthy bed, there was blood on the floor other people on the ward were bringing in takeaways, the ward stunk. Added to that I have Epilepsy and had been well monitered at the same hospital all the way through my pregnancy and my specialist had said to ask for help after the birth because tiredness is a big factor in bringing on a fit. I had been in labour on and off for 3 days and had not slept when I asked for help I was told, they were to busy and they weren't a babysitting service and that is not like years ago!!! All through the night the nurses were shouting up and down the corrider and laughing. In the end I had to perch on the end of the bed trying to calm Eva down crying my eyes out!! I could not bath Eva as they were too busy I had to wait til I got home and like others had to wait til 6pm the next day before I went home after being told a docter would be around that morning! Sorry about the rant but God do I feel better now!! lol

 

[sophie c]

my actual labour was ok the midwifes i had were great and when i went into theatre for the retained placenta a midwife came with me and hugged me bless her.
but on the post labour ward things were very slow they didnt rush anything, and when aly got taken from me to be put on SCBU in the incubator i even heard one of the midwifes talking anout me in their handover sayin she thought i was depressed because i was moping and quite dreary, i was like FFS im 19 and my 2 day old baby has been taken from me, put in an incubator on a drip and i dont know whats wrong with her AM I NOT ALOUD TO BE UPSET! the knob of a woman! grrrrr!
and when we got discharged 5days later we had to wait for a blood test result wich they took that morning at 6am when they woke aly up and they sed we'd know by 12 lunch time and it took my OH to complain in the end and the lead consultant came to see us and told us he was happy for us to go and that was at 3pm and we still didnt get out of there till gone 8pm waiting for my meds to go home! it was rather frustrating!

end of rant lol

xxxx

 

[krissie1234uk]

My story is pretty much similar. I had two fantastic mw's during labour and a lovely student who stayed with me all the time and made sure both me and my OH were happy. They really made it a wonderful experience for me, as did the anesthatist who was so lovely. It went a bit downhill when I was having an emergency section, as the surgeon turned around after my little boy had been delivered and said "Have you felt any pain on your left hand side?". I said no, and he just carried on with what he was doing! I asked why and he ignored me! I asked repeatedly and still no answer so the anesthatist had to shout at him to tell me why he had asked. Turned out my fallopian tube had died due to a cyst. That was the last I heard about it, after I left the theatre it was not explained to me, despite me asking several times. Took 4 weeks for a mw to sort out an appointment for me to see the consultant at the hospital to talk about it, after being told by everyone else that someone would be in touch. They'd obviously just said it and done nothing about it.
In recovery, whilst in shock and feeling pretty awful, I wanted to give Dylan his first breastfeed and was told to wait for the midwife. I did, and when she turned up she ignored me. My mum shouted at her and all she did was grab my boob and shove it in Dylans mouth, then walk off. He was not latched on and I got no further help untill I got to the ward.
The ward was awful. It was sooo busy, I'd ask for some assistance to be told they would be round in a minute. An hour later, still nothing. Some of the midwifes were lovely, really helpful but too busy to be able to give the level of care needed. Others were simply rude. Its so unfortunate that the wards are so understaffed, especially when it leads to such unhappy experiences.

 

[MoonMuffin]

I'm sorry so many of you ladies had bad experiences. Here the healthcare system (insurance and costs) is ridiculous, but the quality of care is great. I went to Greenwich hospital (in CT) which has amazing doctors and nurses, it's in a very rich area so that's why (lucky me that my insurance covered it!). My labor was fine (induced, so painful and strong) untill I got the epidural (was hunched over for 25 min and could feel the needle go between my spine and it was so much pressure), which eased the pain for a while, but then the catheter was hurting so so badly with each contraction it prolly would have been better to just deal with the pain of the contractions. The nurses couldn't really do anything about it though, so I was up all night in lots of pain. I ended up needing a c-section, which went very well, and I got to hold Kathryn as soon as they cut the cord and warped her in a blanket (while they were stitching me up). Then they took Kathryn to the nursery to be bathed and all that while I was in recovery and they brought her too me as soon as I was in bed in my room. They also had lactation specialists to help with BFing, and the nurses helped me get to the bathroom and changed my pad and everything when my hubby wasn't there to help. The nursery was there to take Kathryn when I needed a break, and at night so I could get some sleep (though brought her back to breast feed if she was hungry). I had such nice nurses the whole time, and the pediatrician came every morning to check on Kathryn, and a doctor came by to check on my incision, etc. (btw I have a very small thin scar, my doctor did a fab job). Even the food was good. Sometimes the nurses were a bit slow, a few times my DH had to go ask the nurses several times to bring me more painkillers. I stayed for 5 days, and then 2 days after I went home they had us back in so Kathryn could get a little check up (all babies come back in for this at greenwich hospital), it was tough for me but I was managing to walk at this point. So I had a wonderful experience, and I hope to still be in the area for my next birth so I can go back there. Also all the rooms in the maternity unit are private and spacious, which was fab.

 

[BurtonBaby]

I agree in the US for what we pay for healthcare, I expected more. My hospital made it sound like we would be staying at the Ritz. They have a separate C-section part of the ward, that is supposed to be well monitored or something.. I didn't get that tho. I did have 2 nurses who were fab, but I dreaded when they weren't on shift. I stayed 4 nights, and had to move rooms 3 times! I had to constantly ask for painkillers, and even when I asked and was promised someone would bring them, I was waiting hours... I felt like asking them if I could cut their tummy open and give them nothing. Also, one thing I was most angry about is that I only wanted to breastfeed. In the OR they gave Erica a bottle! Some nurses were great about helping me latch, and trying to bf Erica, and some were piling bottles of formula up in my room trying to make us give them to her. I hated that while I had visitors (incl my father) the nurse chose then to make me get up and shower. And the fact that I started lying saying that I had passed gas in order to get something to eat lol. (a requirement before having more than a clear liquid diet). Oh and the day we got to go home, I hated that they said to be ready for discharge around 10am. I was packed and ready. They came around 3pm!! After asking several times for someone to get my staples out and give me the stupid papers to sign.

I did however love the endless supply of ice chips (my fav pregnancy snack!), and the amaretto custard (that could almost pass for cold creme brulee with enough Norco lol).

(I probably sound like such a complainer, my experience was not nearly as bad as a lot of you ladies... sorry...)

 

[marley2580]

I've got to confess that I find the US thing of having a nursery where they take the baby to so bizarre. I can't imagine not having my baby next to me at all times.

 

[sparkswillfly]

I've got to confess that I find the US thing of having a nursery where they take the baby to so bizarre. I can't imagine not having my baby next to me at all times.

Yeah I know it is weird. It would scare me

 

[Fossey]

I expected to be scared, embarrassed and lonely , i was far from that. My mws were fab i cant fault them one little bit. i was never alone during labour, there was always one with me. They were caring, tactful and just great. After care again cant fault. They offered to clean me up but hubby helped as i couldn't stand due to epi. On postnatal, i was being checked on all day and night, having hours spent with me answering my millions of questions and helping me with feeding. Drinks machine was free, could just go help yourself as with breakfast. Food was ok but not very good for vegetarians. Offered pain killers about 3 times a day, place was being cleaned every hour, there was always a cleaner lurking. Just dont have one bad word to say about them.

 

[BurtonBaby]

I've got to confess that I find the US thing of having a nursery where they take the baby to so bizarre. I can't imagine not having my baby next to me at all times.

I actually found that odd too lol... I never knew they offered that until my tour. When I had Erica tho, she left my side a total of twice. Once with DH to get properly cleaned up after birth and have her first bath.. And once for her newborn hearing test, that DH and I were able to watch through the nursery window. I was so amazed and in awe of Erica when she was born, I didn't want her taken to the other side of my room, let alone to the nursery. The first night I stayed awake for 5 hours in the middle of the night to let her sleep on my chest. I didn't want to put her down.

 

[keelykat]

I had a positive experience, during my pregnancy and during birth/afterwards. I can't complain about the nurses, midwives, doctors etc, they were really nice to me and looked after me well.

I'm shocked to hear that so many ladies on here have had bad experiences, it's terrible.

keely.

 

[momandpeanut]

I had terrible care from start to finish !!!

On arrival at the labour ward 5days after contractions started and being sent home twice already , i was told by some snotty mw that i would have to go onto a ward and ''let nature take its course ''(i was at this point 10 days late !).No one would listen when i felt some thing was wrong i was NOT monitored dispite repeatadly asking.
When they finally took me into the labour ward they left me for another 8 hours after breaking my waters with just gas and air even when i begged for something else !

Ended in csection , baby in serious distress , my heart rate dropped and adrenilin given, swob left inside me !
And that doesnt even start on what happened after the birth !!!!!!!

I have put a complaint in to the hospital !

 

[MummyMummy]

after watching sicko with michael moore i find it hard to grumble tbh. in past posts i've mentioned my not so good experience with my 1st son just the lack of communication, not really the medical side though and not wanting it to be repeated but i'd go throughthat any day rather than worry about medical insurance covering this that and the other. i'm a fulltime mum, my mr.man works fulltime and the amount of tax he pays which is to help cover costs of nhs for himself and family - me, son and another baby due in june is surly going to add up to alot less than we would have to pay for medical insurance in other countrys. people like to moan... go pay more money for private care if nhs isn't good enough for your princess self. they do say after all that you get what you pay for. of course it doesn't apply when lives are at risk, but as far as that woman on the tele moaning about what really are trivial things then just shut up and get off the lets moan about the nhs bandwagon.

xXx