"An asset to Maternity Services"

I was referred to the Maternity and Neonatal Psychological intervention (MNPI) service at University Hospital Wishaw after a difficult birth with my daughter in which she ended up needing neonatal care. Prior to my first session I was sceptical if this would help me feel any better about my experience but every single appointment has been beneficial to me. My psychologist Ciara explained that what I was experiencing was a trauma response, something I had never considered prior to meeting her.

During my time with the MNPI service we tried various different methods of therapy including CBT, EMDR, Maternity debriefs with Alana and Labour ward site visits - each one was helpful in their own way. After finishing my sessions with Ciara last month, I have come away with useful methods and behaviour challenges that I will continue to apply to all aspects of my life when I am faced with challenges.  I feel like I can acknowledge what I went through now with a different view that this scenario could never happen again which has allowed me to settle some of my worst anxieties about the potential for having a second child.

I really appreciated the compassion, understanding and support I received from Ciara during my time using the service. I think this service is an asset to the maternity services and would love to see the service develop further to support more parents in the future. I also think other parts of the maternity services could use MNPI input on psychological effects to patients to influence change to practices to see better care for patients in labour and delivery.