"Childbirth at the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast"

Gave birth to my baby in July 2020 at Royal Maternity, Belfast.

Overall it was not an experience I would ever repeat with this hospital.

The positives:

Some of the midwives were excellent regarding their care of me. 2 Staff member in particular come to mind.

The opportunities to improve:

I felt that the midwife that dealt with me when I first arrived on the ward, post delivery, practically accused me of spilling water on the floor when in fact my catheter bag has not been fitted correctly and had leaked.

While suffering from an ileus, the auxiliary staff balked at bringing me hot water so I could make peppermint tea. The hot water geyser was not working.

The bed coordinator tried to discharge me after 48 hrs even though I was projectile vomiting and could not go to the bathroom because I had an ileus. I had to ask for a doctor to intervene.

My baby was in the NICU and because my husband was not allowed on the ward due to covid, and the ward was short staffed, I had to walk or shuffle between floors to see my baby in NICU, as I did not want to distract the staff to bring me a wheelchair.

I had never spent a night in hospital prior to this and came out of it 5 days later traumatised.