"Absolutely appalling with very dangerous..."

What I liked

The midwives and consutant were absolutely fabulous. I cannot rate them highly enough, very kind & conscientious.

What could be improved

I was in kings mill to have my baby arrived 3.30am on Monday 23rd and on that morning was admitted to the maternity ward I would like to put on record that you have two midwife's that performed their duties beyond expectations.My problems with the care I received started the morning of the 24th that morning there was a booked c-section due to take place that morning I was given assurances that I would take priority if in the event I needed special care.On two occasions I and my partner were left unattended your consultant even came in to the room and asked were was everyone and said that we should not be left alone at 10.30 am we were again alone my partner pushed the call buzzer and the trainee midwife came my partner asked were was everyone as I was in excruciating pain she said she would get the midwife my partner asked for the registrar when the midwife came some five minutes later my partner asked was everyone doing the pre-booked c-section which was the case .

When I went in to theatre at 11.30 your team was wonderful.

I do believe that after being told that I would take preference that for your team to go ahead with the booked c-section was a bad decision which could so easily gone so wrong.

My time spent on the maternity ward was horrendous I did not have any contact with my baby for nine whole hours. I overheard a nurse expressing her shock at this. Because of that time delay my baby lost 16% of his birth weight. My baby was never weighed again in your hospital at one point two of your nurses went to get pain relief which I never received I actually never saw them again .Because I had complication trying to give birth I had to have an MRI on the Wednesday morning. The scanners had been waiting for me since 9.30am. I didn't go down until 2pm which meant I was in bed for longer without any contact with my baby as I still had my catheter in. I had to ask & ask to have it removed so I could get up.

Anything else?

The metal balls at the end of my stitches were attempted to be removed by a doctor who didn't realise they had been crushed & just pulled at them which was extremely painful. She said she couldnt do it & i never saw her again..My child now has a very low weight & we are on a strict feeding plan which requires volumes that I am struggling to express in such short periods of time. This is unbelievably stressful and makes learning how to breast feed almost impossible. The emotional effects on me have been soul destroying. I rarely saw the same midwife twice & they very rarely told me their names. I am writing this not to get anyone into trouble but to try & prevent anyone having to experience what I have. Surely it would be more sensible & safer to have one senior midwife in charge of each room for a complete shift. She should come in and introduce herself at the start and ensure she oversees the care that each mother receives. I know that it was a complete lack of communication that resulted in the extremely poor care I received & has caused a mountain of issues for myself & my baby. I would never ever return to or recommend your birthing unit to anyone. In fact I would encourage them to go elsewhere. My experience has made me terrified of ever becoming pregnant again & that is something that should never happen!