"I would advise women to choose an alternative..."

There is no privacy on the postnatal ward and no hope of sleeping at any point during the day or night. The staff are totally indiscreet - personal details are discussed loudly at handover so everyone else in the ward can overhear and everyone from the midwives to the cleaners barge into the cubicle with no regard for whether or not you are dressed or have visitors - and the obstetricians have no empathy and do not involve patients in decisions about their care. The midwives change so frequently that there is no continuity of care and each one provided advice which conflicted with that of their predecessor so new mothers were left confused as to what they should do. My bedclothes were left unchanged for 4 days despite the fact that I had a newborn who should have been in a hygienic environment. I was treated very badly and am still trying to recover from the experience.