"Mixed feelings"

I gave birth at the Whitttington in 2013 and cannot fault the care and attention we received in the maternity ward. All nurses were wonderful and we were extremely well looked after. My son was born at 37 weeks and I was due to be induced as he had stopped growing at 33 weeks (something I noticed and brought to the attention of doctors). Thankfully I went into labour before the procedure. I would have really benefited from some after-care or some explanation as to why this had happened and what implications this might have on my newborn baby. He was born with low birth weight but otherwise healthy but it left me feeling extremely anxious about his well being and had a very negative effect on my mental health as a new mum.

In 2016 I suffered a miscarriage at 12 weeks and I am still to come to terms with the way I was treated in A&E. After presenting myself to reception and having explained that I was miscarrying I was left to wait in the waiting room for almost 2 hrs surrounded by strangers and drunks (it being a Friday night), during what was an extremely sensitive and traumatic experience. I later lost the baby in the toilets of A&E. When I was finally seen by the nurse, the nurse referred to the baby as a "product", as did many other medical professionals I met with during that evening. I realise that a 12 week old fetus is not regarded as a baby but doctors and nurses need to be a more sensitive to the fact that all miscarriages, whether it is the first, second or third and if it is at 8, 12 or 20 weeks is extremely traumatic to the mother (and father) and calling the fetus a "product" is beyond unacceptable. I think women experiencing a miscarriage should be treated with more care & sensitivity and be given a private place to sit during the ordeal.

I have also recently visited the paediatric A&E after my son had a fall at nursery and suffered head trauma. Once we were seen to we were well looked after and I felt confident that we were in safe hands, however I was not particularly happy with the 5 hr wait, especially given the nature of his injury. In the end I had to knock on the door and plead with the nurses to let us wait on one of the many empty beds in the ward as he was being repeatedly sick and causing a mess in the waiting room which I felt terrible about as all the other families waiting had to endure the smell and mess!