"i went to leighton on 10th september ..."

What I liked

i went to leighton on 10th september 2008 to have my second baby. i had previously transferred my antenatal care to this hospital from another area.

i was very happy with the staff who dealt with us, and our midwife who took over for the night shift was fantastic, right from the time she came into the delivery room and dimmed the lights and introduced herself she made it a very comfortable environment and was very caring and helpful for the remainder of the labour.

Pain relief when i received it was given with good explanation and care, and all decisions were explained to me.

The delivery room was comfortable and relaxing and i enjoyed the fact that there was an onsuite toilet because it gave us more privacy (with my first baby the hospital we used did not have this facility and we had to walk accross corridors where there were other people, mid labour to use the loo. not very dignifying).

we were given lots of information and the staff seemed to identify with the kind of labour i was having and how best to manage it, which put us at ease.

afterward we had some time alone with our baby and something to eat and drink before i was moved to ward23.

ward 23 was again comfortable, and the facilities very clean and accessible. i had no problems accessing staff and pain relief when i needed it, and the discharge process wasnt as time consuming as i'd heard it might be. meals were adequate and a good menu!

What could be improved

when we rang labour ward, i did have an issue because there was a lot of variation of when staff were telling us to come in, some said when contractions were 4-5mins, others said 6-7. my contractions were all over the place anyway, but when i rang for one of the last times before coming in, i was in agony and was told i couldnt come to hospital even though i was in extreme pain and i felt that the person i was speaking to had no comprehension of the level of pain i was in or the fact that i'd been in labour for two days back to back. then we rang back ten minutes later and were told by someone else to go in anyway?

on arrival it did take a while for someone to come into the delivery room to us, but we were told that was due to the ward being busy which i can understand. so there was no real issue here.

after birth we had asked to keep the placenta, but this was not followed through, it was taken away and mentioned no further which we didnt like. also when delivering the placenta i did feel like it was being tugged out before it had chance to detach as i could feel it inside. this was uncomfortable but was done anyway.

on ward 23, i was not told about how to dispose of the glass bottles and teats, or that i had to keep my baby in the trolley cot (once i found this out and the reasons i was fine with it, but i was told abruptly because i'd been carrying him in my arms) - i felt that little was explained and i was just "plonked there" as the expression goes.

also, there appeared to be a problem with liason between staff and the paediatricians as my son was checked but then when i asked about going home i was told i'd have to come back to see the paediatrician. i later checked my sons red book and the section for the first check hasnt been completed so i intend to ask my midwife about this later in the week. i think that if there was a mix up over paperwork then there definitely needs to be something in place so that staff do liase as it is an important matter!

Anything else?

i loved my experience at leighton, the midwife i saw antenatally and the labour experience and my time there afterward were amazing, its restored my faith in hospital care after the horrific experience we had before and we are really happy with the care received, the facility itself and of course to have been able to bring our baby into this world in such a positive light, and i really do praise all the staff for their work and everything that was done for us.