"Day 6 and still waiting for community midwife..."

I delivered my baby at UCLH via caserean section on Wednesday. I was discharged home on Thursday to the care of the Royal London midwives. I'm now 6 days delivered and I have not been seen by a community midwife yet. On Sunday I contacted the Royal to be told they had referred me back to UCLH as they don't provide care in my area, they asked me which is my local hospital and who I pay my council tax to. I told them it's the Royal London and my council is Tower Hamlets, therefore I come under their boundary of care. I arranged for a home visit for Monday so my sutures can be removed, baby weighed and have newborn blood spot. 2pm Monday still no sign, I phoned them and was informed I would receive a visit. 4pm midwife phones unable to visit today as attended and emergency home birth and their shift had now ended, no sorry or how are you recovering, how is your baby, any problems. Emergency home birth is not my problem, make alternative arrangements, midwifery care is 24/7, 365 days a year.

I told the midwife of the initial problems I'd had trying to arrange a community midwife visit and that I had not been seen since being discharged from hospital. I told them of my concerns about my sutures needing to be removed and baby weighed and newborn blood spot. All they said was the blood spot can be performed up to day 8. I told them they were missing the point completely, that I had not been seen since being discharged.

I told them that luckily enough I'm a midwife, it's my second baby and that we are fine due to my knowledge and experience. Goodness knows what bad postnatal experiences first time mums have received from the community midwives from this hospital. It makes me question breastfeeding rates, hospital readmissions, maternal or neonatal postnatal problems, if community midwives are not visiting within the first 24-48hrs post discharge from hospital.

If this is a reflection of the postnatal service they provide, or fail to provide, I'm glad I didn't deliver in this hospital.

I did ask for the head of midwifery's contact details in order to complain but was given the community midwife team leaders name and phone number instead, conveniently their phone was switched off.

I will be making a formal complaint and will be contacting the CQC to inform them of my concerns.

I'm hoping to be visited by the community midwife today.