Maternity services at Ipswich hospital
The experience I had was good. It could have been made better should I have been given the opportunity to have my baby on the broom birthing centre but this was shut. I was treated with kindness and respect by the midwife I first called when my waters broke and I was met by the same midwife on arrival at the hospital. I was nervous as I don’t like hospitals and she was kind and put me at ease. I had a birth plan with me and although some of what I had requested was not available due to the birthing centre being closed ie big birthing pool - other options were explained to me. Once I had been assessed I was moved to a room which on arrival which was set up with loads of small candle lights creating the atmosphere I really wanted. The room was a lot smaller than the one I had for the birth of my first child it wasn’t overwhelming medical and has everything we needed. My birth progressed quickly. I had care from one other midwife (whose name currently escapes me) and a trainee (which I am always happy to have). They were calm, kind, respectful and followed my birth plan requests. I didn’t want to have pain relief other than gas and air and when my daughter started coming along quickly and I felt in more pain they helped me with gas and air and didn’t push other pain relief options on me as they knew my wishes. Throughout the 3 hours from arrival to my daughter being born I was kept calm, provided with a lovely big fan when I was boiling hot and helped on my birthing journey incredibly calmly which helped me no end. My daughter was born without complication and we were given a nice amount of time on our own with her once the placenta was delivered. Following some time alone our delivery midwives went of shift saying lovely goodbyes. We were allocated a new midwife who was also lovely and had lots of time for the questions I had about blood loss etc. Unfortunately the midwife had to be called to another mother so we were transferred down to a ward to be assessed by a doctor and discharged. This did take a bit longer to happen than my experience with my son 4 years prior however I understand how busy it can be and I believe there was only one doctor available who had been called to an emergency c section. As our stay in the ward was only to be for a short time i did find that some things weren’t explained to us like location of toilets - this wasn’t a problem as we found them but having just given birth I didn’t want to be wandering around too far - a few extra signs may help with this perhaps. Within the bathrooms there was lots of info on bleeding, post birth care etc which were really informative and useful. The doctor we saw was kind and explained everything. He checked for a tongue tie at my request as my son had had one. Not a negative for us but a senior doctor was in the room at the same time as we were having lily’s assessment. He was questioning the other doctor on the treatment of another baby including asking if he had informed parents that their child needed a brain scan - info I think should have been discussed away from us - although I appreciate everyone is busy. A kind midwife on the ward facilitated our quick discharge as this was my preference although when my blood pressure was slightly raised did inform me I would need to have it checked twice more before she was happy for me to leave - exactly correct of course. She was lovely and kind and explained how I could get myself comfortable and relax and of course that all worked well. There was a lot of info to read prior to discharge and this was via tablet which was easy to do. My experience was very good overall. Perhaps it didn’t feel quite so led by me as it did with my son 4 years prior however covid has changed things and staff are busier and it couldn’t be helped that the birthing suite was shut. Our care was great from start to finish. Myself and my daughter were well cared for and at no point did I question anything. I put my trust in all the staff and they helped me though the amazing experience that is childbirth. Thank you ☺️