"Let down by lack of support post-surgery"

I was induced in Craigavon Hospital to give birth to my baby boy. As a first time mum I was so nervous and had no idea what to expect. I did feel a bit traumatised as a result of my long labour experience as it ended in an emergency c-section which was never what I wanted.

However, the team of people that cared for me in the delivery suite and the theatre were absolute angels. Two women in particular who helped me through my labour were called Laura and Melanie who were two angels and I don’t know what I would have done without them. I could still cry now when I think about how kind and caring they were with me throughout the whole experience, from Laura being a source of comfort and reassurance and Melanie being so gentle and patient teaching me how to breastfeed when baby arrived. Both of my anaesthetists were also very patient and caring men who took such gentle care with me and were amazing at their jobs. Jen who did my surgery was also amazing and did a very tidy job which I’ll be forever grateful for and checked up on me lots in recovery. 

Unfortunately when I got up to the ward where I stayed for four days the level of care was quite poor from one nurse in particular. As I had been given so many drugs throughout my long labour process I had a very upset stomach the following night and spent several 20 minute periods in the bathroom. This meant that I had to keep wheeling my baby to the nurses station while I was gone.

Instead of being shown any compassion this nurse told me  if I'm going to be in there for 20 minutes I'll have to tell someone because my baby was due a feed and they'll have to give him a bottle. This nurse knew at this time I was strictly breastfeeding and this really panicked me. Looking back, yes my baby was probably overdue a feed by 20 minutes but this was not something I was able to control and in the grand scheme of things it didn’t matter. I was sick and doing the best that I could one day post surgery and he hadn’t missed any other feeds.

Due to this ongoing issue this nurse asked me to provide a stool sample and changed me to a side room in case I had C-Diff. Again, no compassion shown for someone one day post surgery  and they didn’t help me move any of my things into the new room.

My stomach got so bad that I no longer had time to wheel the baby from the side room at the furthest point from the nurses station to make it to the bathroom on time and nobody was able to help me take care of him properly. Many times I would be in the small bathroom in the side room and had to leave baby unattended because it took staff a while to respond to the buzzer. Each time I came out of the bathroom my baby was crying and choking on mucus. I was so distressed I asked this nurse to discharge me and told them I didn’t feel that my baby was safe when I wasn’t fit to be taking care of him. 

This has made me reconsider ever having another baby as the experience on the ward is so stressful as a c-section mum who is expected to take care of a baby from 10pm-10am mostly alone when dad is sent home . Surely on any other ward in the hospital someone who is one day post surgery would never be expected to do so much. Something has got to change!