"No Water Birth!"

Anything else?

I gave birth at the Royal London 3 weeks ago and I am completely and utterly disgraced at the service I receieved. Firstly the staff were very passive and slow in responce to my needs. As this was my first baby I was terrified and did not feel as though I were taken seriously 'just another woman having a baby'. Nobody even looked at my birthing plan or asked how I wanted to deliver the baby. Not that it mattered when I did mention my plans as I wanted a Water Birth, which The Royal London told me time & time again was completely possible, that they had the staff & facilities to make my dream birth a reality. That it didnt matter if 'the only one birthing pool' they actually had was occupied because there were several other blow up pools that could be used should there be the need. Throughout my contractions I was continuously vomitting & losing strength fast. I needed pain relief a.s.a.p. and when requested to provide the pool the staffs response was very slow and laid back. They had to go and ask so & so to get a pool ready. Hours passed and by the time somebody returned I was told that the birthing pool was dirty and needed to be cleaned. Therefore I had to wait again. When somebody returned I was told that they were 'looking' to find the correct staff to actually clean the pool itself. Once they finally found the staff they came back to tell me. As it was taking forever I requested for them just to get one of the blow up pools ready as that would be quicker. Eventually as my contractions get worser still and im writhering in pain they return and tell me that they have cleaned the birthing pool and now need to find the correct staff to deliver the baby. I wait and wait and once they come back they tell me that there are actually are no staff within the hospital qualified and available to deliver the baby in water. I was completely shocked and horrified at this news! After the hours of waiting and being promised I would be able to have a water birth, they now tell me there are no staff to deliver the baby! I was fuming! This is the hospital with apparently the best of staff and facilities? ...I eventually gave birth afta 2 days of intense contractions I needed an epidural as I no longer had the strength to deliver the baby. Once the baby was born my mother and mother in law were told by the midwife to clean the baby? They had no idea what they were doing? Why were they even asked? Its not their job? What about the aftercare for myself and the baby? ...also the drip that I had (the needles in my hand) were bothering me and I asked if they could be taken out? This proved to also be a majour task for The Royal London to deal with. Only on the day I was released from hospital a few hrs before, once I had practically begged them several hundred times did they remove them.I will not be giving birth at the Royal London ever again! and i will encourage others to do the same!