"Kind, professional and supportive maternity care"

Anything else?

My first baby was stillborn in 2012, due to circumstances beyond my control and that of my doctors and midwives. She was born at Croydon University Hospital and I had a good, but not perfect experience. My care was appropriate and professional and some people took great care to make our experience as bearable as it could have been under the circumstances. My care following her birth was excellent, I was followed up from both a clinical and emotional point of view, and every effort was made (analysis of my notes, my baby's post mortem and follow up tests) to help ensure that the same thing wouldn't happen again. One year on, my second baby girl was born at Croydon and I have seen such a step change in such a short time. I had an emergency c-section at 33w on bank holiday weekend as my baby's movements had changed and given my history, the decision was taken to deliver her early. I was really worried about whether it was the right decision but trusted the consultant to make the right decision, when they delivered her they found that I had suffered a placental abruption that didn't show on the scans and that my daughter was smaller than she was measuring and not developing at the rate she probably should have been. If they hadn't delivered her then I might have been grieving for another baby girl. The Consultant Obstetrician and Neonatologist had 100% made the right call. I had one to one care from two midwives (there was a shift change) and both were extremely professional as well as supportive and kind. My baby was rushed straight to SCBU (the neonatal doctors were in the theatre when she was delivered) and the midwives kept in touch with SCBU to ensure they could help me and my husband know and understand what was happening to her as well as me. I was in hospital for a few days waiting for my blood pressure to settle (I wasn't rushed home) and was well cared for in that time, my wound healed well and there were no further complications (this was 4 months ago now). I was followed up by the medical team as well as by midwives. My baby spent almost 4 weeks in special care baby unit, she was looked after brilliantly all the time she was there- it didn't matter if I went at 5am or 2pm, she was always well looked after and the nurses could tell me how much milk she had, when and whether she had a wet or dirty nappy, whether her care plan was the same or different from the last time I had seen her. In all the time that I spent in hospital as both a patient and as a visitor to my baby girl, all the mums I spoke to felt that they had good care and in many cases, that their lives or their babies were saved. Yet, at my ante-natal class, many mums were really worried to have their babies at Croydon, probably because it has a bad reputation from years ago, so more people should try to share their good experiences of the services recently and give them the credit they deserve for making such a change in the last few years.