"A fantastic service, largely due to the staff who work there"

My wife recently gave birth to our second child at the Lothian Birth Centre, and the midwives and student midwife who looked after us were outstanding.

In the Birth Centre we were greeted by Mo, the student midwife, and Jamie, the midwife. They were with us throughout the birth, until we went upstairs to the maternity ward. There, we were looked after mostly by Emma (and a few others whose names I didn't catch).

The birth itself could have been a really traumatic experience. My wife had a major haemorrhage, and was on the cusp of being anaesthetised and taken for surgery to stem the bleeding. Thankfully that didn't happen, and while I was absolutely terrified by the number of doctors coming in the room, I was relieved that they were there, ready to do whatever job was needed.

Throughout, Mo and Jamie communicated clearly with my wife and I, and reassured us about every stage in the process. They were completely professional, but also built a genuine and warm relationship with us over the short time we were with them. As a student midwife, we were particularly blown away by Mo, who was exactly what we were hoping for from our experience. Friendly, encouraging and professional. She really raised my wife's spirits when things were very difficult, but also looked after me as the birth partner. At no point did we feel as though we were just another day at the office for either Jamie or Mo.

On the maternity ward, the midwives really looked after my wife overnight while I was away. She expressed breast milk, and they were able to take over a feed for our daughter, so that my wife could get some much needed sleep.

The following day, Emma was great at keeping us updated about after care, and advising us about the various health checks that would happen before we were discharged.

Overall, the Lothian Birth Centre is a fantastic service, largely due to the staff who work there. We hope we expressed our thanks in person as deeply as we felt it, but just wanted our experience to be recorded as well.