"Maternity aftercare"

I recently had my first baby and was assigned the Larch team. I found the care throughout my pregnancy amazing. I felt supported and always a priority (including tho odd times I phoned triage). Even when I was terrified of needles for my bloods, I was treated kindly and celebrated for getting through it.

I also felt super supported throughout my  birthing experience. Everything was always explained to me and my husband was included throughout which meant a lot to me. 

The only let down was my aftercare experience. After I was cleaned up, I was left in the room I gave birth in and felt a bit abandoned. There was no real soft comfy bed (I was in a birthing pool room) so I sat in the armchair the whole time which wasn’t comfortable. Eventually I needed to feed my baby so when someone came to check my pee I asked for help with breastfeeding.

Although I was shown how to breastfeed while I was being stitched up, I was so drugged up/experiencing the initial first hold of my baby that I only took so much in. While I waited for someone to come, I gave feeding a go. Two ladies came in and their response was to laugh a little while saying that I was doing everything wrong here which I felt was a bit harsh. They then gave me rules to follow and I was left feeling embarrassed and disheartened by the whole thing. I didn’t even end up feeding my baby as they said just to eat my own dinner and come back to attempting to feed the baby. I didn’t buzz them back in as I didn’t want to get told off of embarrassed again for struggling and no one came to check in so I left with that being my only help for feeding. 

As I was left in the labour ward, I was not allowed visitors which was really upsetting for me and my family. While I completely understand why visitors aren’t allowed in the labour ward, I wish I wasn’t left there so that I could have had visitors as this was something we were all really excited for. It meant I ended up having to think about letting immediate family visit my house when I got home rather than getting peace and rest.

My overall 6-8 hour wait until discharge felt lonely. I wish I had someone to check in on me and offer support with feeding, my stitches, and my overall well-being so I was more equipped to go home.

My first night/day I felt myself panicking as I was so caught up in the rules of breast feeding I was given and didn’t want to do it wrong again. Thankfully, my midwife appointments came along. 

Gillian came the day after I had my baby and one of the first things I said was how I’m really struggling with feeding. She spent time with we showing me how to do it rather than telling me rules (she actually corrected a lot of the rules I was given) and was so so encouraging. 

By her next visit the following day, I was confidently feeding. It was like night and day! 

Just 10mins working on feeding with Gillian totally changed my confidence and ability to feed. 

I looked forward to every midwife visit. I was left feeling so uplifted, validated and confident after each one. Other than the practical advice and help, the encouragement I received made me feel so happy and confident in myself. Gillian is so brilliant at what she does and I’m so thankful for how much she cared for me. I’m genuinely sad her visits have come to an end. From start to finish, Gillian has made me feel like a priority and given me solid advice and help. 

Although the aftercare in the hospital was not great, it’s only a small part of my overall experience. My delivery was with the Larch team too  so I want to acknowledge how great the team are. Thank you to you all for getting me through my pregnancy right through to postpartum. You’re all incredible at what you do. I can only hope I get the same team next time around as I feel in safe hands with you all.