"I didn't feel safe or supported"

I had my baby at Wishaw General hospital recently. I was due to have a planned section but went into spontaneous labour prior to this. I attended triage and after several hours was taken for my section in the early hours of the next morning.

The theatre staff who performed the section were excellent, extremely supportive and reassuring and I had a gentle section as requested despite it now being an unplanned section. The time in recovery was also good. However, the moment we were taken to the postnatal ward it was a complete change.

We arrived in the early hours of the morning and I was put in a 4 bed bay and my husband was rather aggressively told he must leave despite us just arriving. Throughout that night I felt I received very little support, despite still being numb from the section.

The next day I struggled to get baby to latch for breastfeeding and was advised to do some skin to skin and hand expressing. Despite this, baby still seemed to be struggling and when I did ask for help I was told to  just keep doing what I'm doing. A few further attempts to get support - I felt repeatedly fobbed off and was very upset.

My husband then went and spoke to staff and finally a midwife came to helped and managed to support me to feed. The midwife spent maybe 10-15 minutes with me which was a huge help. I highlight this as if this had been done initially it would have been a huge help and saved a lot of upset. I also contacted the infant feeding team once discharged and they were a fantastic help. I'm aware breastfeeding rates in Lanarkshire are low and I'm not surprised given the lack of support I seen in the hospital.

Four hours after arriving in recovery I was told to get up and go for breakfast. I explained I still had a catheter in and no-one had checked I could walk yet. Someone then came along and removed my catheter and I was told to just go along for breakfast and take my baby with me. I didn't feel safe enough to do this so waited until my husband arrived and could support me.

I had some visitors that day who also commented on the poor attitude of staff. I asked to leave that night as I didn't feel safe or supported in the ward and would rather have been at home where my partner could support me. I was advised no as it had to be a minimum of 24hrs since the baby was born. I was able to get discharged the next morning thankfully.

I work for the NHS and was really shocked at the lack of compassion and care from staff, particularly when you are at your most vulnerable. I had been worried about this in advance of attending WGH as I had been told and read numerous negative stories about people's experience in the postnatal ward and had been reassured by community staff. I have also since spoken to numerous women at different groups postnatally who told me about similar experiences at WGH.

This is part of the reason I wondered if it's even worth complaining as despite people's previous complaints and feedback nothing seems to have changed. It seems a real cultural shift is needed in the ward. There were a few kind and compassionate staff, but unfortunately they were the exception rather than the rule.