"Traumatic"

What I liked

The antenatal care was exceptional.

What could be improved

We asked for our midwife to be replaced after they read someone else's notes to us and repeatedly dropped items on the floor and picked them up without washing their hands. Our request was refused. One hour after birth our baby stopped breathing and the midwife had no idea what to do, it was absolutely terrifying. Thankfully m husband took control and got paediatricians straight awa who resucitated our son. (They were amazing.) The midwife did not help us to breastfeed at all, and ripped out my IV accidentally, they also forgot my Rh- injection. In the post op private ward, a series of midwives gave me conflicting advice on breastfeeding and we felt bullied. I was frightened to sleep because my baby had had a hypoxic episode and I would only sleep if someone else was holding my baby; yet every time I did sleep, the midwives made a note of it in my medical records. They did not make any positive notes in my records at all. We asked for my son to be weighed before we left, on two occasions. Both requests were refused. On day 5 at home we found that he has lost a significant amount of weight and were readmitted. We finally saw a breastfeeding specialist. On discharge, I asked for myself and my baby to be physically examined to see if there was a reason for him not feeding and was assured that there were no physical issues. Two days after discharge we took my son to a lactation consultant who diagnosed profound tongue tie. I also had pre-existing medical conditions which inhibited milk production, but these were not picked up by the hospital staff. However, they were easily remedied by the lactation consultant. My notes did not reflect my baby's blue episode at all.

If you do have a baby at St Thomas I would advise keeping a detailed record of everything that happens and I would not recommend you complaining about anything, as they seem to put a black mark against our name when you do.