"Pleasantly Surprised"

I gave birth at Basildon in Feb and from the very beginning of my labour I felt at ease and well cared for. I was extremely nervous about giving birth but was constantly reassured and kept informed. I was able have a choice of pain relief and could move around as I needed to. I was looked after by a midwife who was amazing on what was a very busy day in the department. The midwife even came to see me on the ward the next morning to see if I was ok. The next midwife was stern but kind when I needed it the most. I ended up having an emergency section, the theatre staff were very reassuring and took the fear out of a very scary situation. One slight negative point would be that I feel I was sent home very quickly after surgery. I gave birth at 10pm and was home by 3pm the following day. Luckily I had lots of help at home, so caring for the baby after a section wasn't an issue, but this may not be the case for other people in this position. Also the showers on the ward were extremely dirty, not exactly what you need with a wound on your stomach that you do not want to become infected. I would, however, have no problem or worries about giving birth at Basildon again and feel the staff don't receive enough recognition for their hard work.