"Second C section at the Royal Derby Hospital"

After having a very positive experience on the birth of my first child (despite being an emergency c section!) I chose the Royal Derby again for the birth of my second child which was to be a scheduled c section. I had hoped that my planned c section would be a more straight forward but as I was left waiting until almost 5pm before I was taken to theatre it was a very stressful day. From arriving and having the first checks I didn't see a midwife or have any checks and when it got to late afternoon I started to feel ill as I had not eaten from the night before or drank since before 7am so my husband went in search of a member of staff and eventually I was put on a drip. Although I know that emergencies had to be taken to theatre first, it felt like I had been forgotten about as nobody came to check I was ok or to inform me on how timings where going. being as my blood pressure had been high throughout the pregnancy and that my c section had been brought forward due to issues with our babies growth I feel that a check

now and again should have occurred even though the ward was busy. When I was fetched to go to theatre it seemed to be very rushed and there wasn't a midwife there to be with me so the midwife who took me to theatre was asked to stay even though their shift was almost due to finish. The anethatist was lovely and was the person who helped me to feel calm after getting quite anxious with the feeling of being rushed (I over heard the consultant telling another member of the team they had earnt their money that day ! Not the best thing to hear when I'm lay on the operating table lol). Once my baby arrived i was happy with the care I received although there seemed to be some issues with being short staffed at times so the care wasn't quite as good as with my first baby. The one member of staff who shone again and is an asset to the maternity Ward is the maternity care assistant. Who was very helpful, gave advice and nothing was ever too much trouble.

Discharge was a bit long winded as I was left waiting until teatime again maybe this was due to staffing shortages or being busy?

Overall a good experience at Derby Royal just not quite as good as the first.