"Neglect of care during my labour"

I was induced following a preeclampsia diagnosis 5 days overdue. I was taken into ward 10 to begin the induction process at the end of December 2022.  I eventually went into labour two night later. In the days leading up to my labour, I was taken care of and couldn't fault any of the staff from midwives to auxiliaries to cleaners. All were kind and supportive and made what was an anxious and worrying time enjoyable and as pleasant as it could be. 

The pathways document states "discussing birth plan on admission" - no person asked me my preferences for my birth at any stage. I felt that due to me being induced my preferences were not valued however I did get a chance to discuss the induction process and made choices which I felt were best suited for me. The staff were supportive of this and I was grateful for their ability to compromise and work with me.

The pathways state, "Low technology and one to one support from a midwife and birthing partner(s) present (where desired)" during 1st and 2nd stage of labour. I was denied my partner coming to support me as I went into labour out with the visiting hours of 11am and 8pm. I did not receive the necessary support I needed from the midwives. I felt vulnerable and alone.

When pleading with my midwife, to let my partner come in to support me, I was told no. I requested a private room so he might be allowed but they said there were no private rooms available despite spending my entire labour looking at an empty room across the hall. Desperate, I asked to labour in the corridor, at the lifts or out of the ward completely just so he could be there and I wouldn't be alone. At this stage I was having consistent contractions lasting 1 minute 40 seconds with less than 2 minutes between.

Despite progressing quickly, being in active labour to the point that I was pushing on the ward, I was told my partner could not be there. When I did begin pushing on the ward, I requested one of the many people who had rushed to my bedside to phone him and was told, you do it. While pushing out my baby but being told not to push, I had to give him the distressed call to get here now. 

The following night after my birth, my partner stayed with me and my baby until after midnight with no one telling him he had to leave. Being alone throughout my labour and being told to make that call still causes me a great deal of distress and is something I am still trying to deal with 3 months on.

While in labour, I was going to the toilet on the ward regularly with diarrhea. The toilet was unheated and the cold was hideously uncomfortable, especially as my labour progressed. I resorted to using the toilet up the corridor which was heated but I needed to walk there which was incredibly difficult during established labour. I ran out of toilet paper and when I asked for the roll to be replaced, I was handed a tiny box of tissues. I felt demoralised and returned to using the freezing cold toilet.

The pathways state the maternal monitoring includes "abdominal palpitation for descent and position 4 hourly" - I believe had 1 done from when I went into labour at 8:30pm to when my baby was born at 6:26am. "Pulse hourly" - This didn't happen. A fetal monitoring was carried out via CTG for around 40 minutes. The pathways states, "There is no evidence to support admission CTG in healthy women with no complications." I felt this monitoring allowed the midwife to save some time as she hooked me up, left me for 20 minutes, returned without saying anything and left me again for a further 20 minutes. I needed the toilet desperately but couldn't reach the buzzer. I am not aware of any other monitoring of my baby happening on the ward i.e. use of a doppler, despite the pathways stating during 1st stage of labour, "Intermittent auscultation for 1 minute every 15 minutes after a contraction". I felt I was a hinderance to the midwife. My partner and I were trained in hypnobirthing. Had he been there, he could have made sure I drank enough water (Pathways - "Ensure well hydrated"), helped me to the toilet, supported and monitored contractions. The lack of care and monitoring resulted in me being upset, distressed, late up to labour ward and without my partner during this very vulnerable time.

Since reviewing my notes on Badger app postnatally, I have seen points I wish to query. There was a note made on an observation which read that after being given morphine "appears to be asleep". This is untrue. I was a hypnobirther and the morphine allowed me to return to my relaxed state where I could focus on my breath to get through contractions. At no point in my labour did I have the capability to sleep. 

The length of my total labour is noted as being "2 hours and 32 minutes". I started contracting at 8:30pm, on review of my timed contractions was in active labour at 11:42pm and birthed my baby at 6:26am. My notes are not a true reflection of my birth.

I went on to have forceps delivery, PPH with 2l blood loss, a manual removal in theatre under a spinal, recovery in high dependency for a blood transfusion followed by an iron transfusion. Despite the difficulty of all of this, my care in labour ward and theatre was wonderful. I am incredibly disappointed and heart broken that I was left to the point I was pushing on the ward. My partner made my birth with less than an hour to spare which I feel could have been avoided with proper monitoring and support.