"ANDU and Burstow Wards"

I gave birth via c-section following regular monitoring for Ante natal issues. I was regularly looked after by a member of staff in the ANDU for these visits and it was great to have continuity of care. They were brilliant and really cared; they had a fantastic bedside manner and is genuinely empathetic. I rarely had to wait for these appointments however if I rang up and went in due to concerns with a lack of movement then I frequently had to wait hours to be seen. On one occasion I had to wait overnight to be seen and was not offered any water or snacks or any bedding by the Agency midwife. Despite this on these occasions I was often lucky to be looked after by a member of staff who also does home births. They were also excellent, kind and empathetic, great at considering my needs and just thinking about simple things such as making sure I had cold water to drink. They both made what was quite a stressful experience a lot less worrying. Our midwife for the c-section kept us calm and informed through the whole process. They also spotted immediately my daughter's tongue tie so it was dealt with on day two for which we were grateful. My experience of care on Burstow ward was also excellent. Again we were lucky enough to have continuity of care and were very well looked after by the lovely excellent midwife. I did how find that the bathrooms felt a little grimy and occasionally had blood on the floor. The food was not very nutritious and unappetising and at times the ward was so busy it felt a bit like an airport departure lounge rather than somewhere where you can bond with your baby. To be fair to ESH this was sometimes due to other inconsiderate patients.. Burstow ward also needs more breastfeeding advisors. Despite struggling to latch on we were only able to get proper help from the advisors on one occasion as they were so busy. When that help came it was really useful but we had to chase several times to get someone to come and see us. My Community midwife was excellent and could not do enough for us and spotted issues early on. I was very grateful to be under their care for my pregnancy as they were informed, calm, empathetic and professional. My general impression of our maternity care is that there are excellent committed people within the ESH birthing unit however they are sometimes let down by facilities and the fact that there are not enough staff to cope with the volume of patients.