"I found all the staff in the delivery ..."

What I liked

I found all the staff in the delivery suite to be very supportive throughout my pregnancy and during my son's birth. They paid attention to my birth plan and were kind and helpful, to both me and my partner. One midwife in particular was especially nice. Although her shift had ended by the time my son was born, she visited me in the postnatal ward the next day which really touched me.

What could be improved

My experience in the postnatal ward was unfortunately not so positive. I was taken to the postnatal ward at the time of a staff shift handover and left. I still had drips attached but needed the toilet. I let the midwife know, she said she would sort it out so I could go, but never returned. Eventually I got hold of another midwife who gave me a stand so I could take my drip with me. On the way to the toilet I was bleeding heavily, leaking on to the floor. I asked for a passing midwive's help but she said she was busy and to ask someone else! I was standing in the middle of the ward, in view of all the other patients utterly humiliated until I got the attention of one of the care staff who cleaned up for me. I had an episiotomy during my son's birth and was in a lot of pain later on. When I told the midwife, all I was given was two paracetamol, which made little difference. It wasn't until hours later when I saw another midwife that she realised I should have been given extra pain relief and this had been missed. I found the care during my time in the postnatal ward to be very up and down. A few of the midwives were very kind, but many were quite rude and uncaring. For most of my time there I felt quite abandoned and quite frankly, like I was in the way.