"Maternity not up to scratch"

My daughter has just had her first baby and whereas she was very happy with the Delivery Suite and midwives, I have major concerns about the actual Post Natal ward. It was a cramped ward with little space between the beds both adjacent and alongside. The curtains were kept closed around the beds which gave a very claustraphobic feel to the room. There was no light in the ward, with only a tiny window above my daughter's bed. When I had my four children, in a now closed hospital unit, it was light and airy and very conducive to a new mum and baby. My 3rd child needed sunlight for jaundice - how would this have happened on Pannal Ward? My main concern was over the lack of interaction with the staff. No-one seemed to be 'looking after' the girls. My daughter's bed was never changed in the 2 days she spent there. No one kept an eye on how she was feeding, changing or nursing the baby. Specifically no one told her husband it was bad practice for him to lie on the bed, or change the baby on the bed. Both practices were very much forbidden twenty-five years ago. Hygene was really called into question here. When she left no-one escorted her from the ward to the car - this was always done when I left hospital. She had had a c-section! And on top of that no-one told her she had to continue wearing the elastic stockings she was given. Someone should have checked on that. She came away without them. I think the basic problem was a lack of auxilllary staff to do the routine jobs expected in a maternity unit. It is not about super midwives, it is about caring for a young woman who has just given birth and providing a pleasant, safe enviroment for her and the baby. I knew the NHS had made draconian cuts in not providing essentials like nappies, cream, cotton wool etc. But taking away staff and putting young mums in dark and dingy wards is below the pale. Harrogate does not get my vote.