"My traumatic birth experience"

I’m writing this to finally speak about my birth experience in the royal hospital. I went into pregnancy feeling very optimistic about my birth as this was my second birth. I was due to be induced at 8am and went to the royal, who told me I couldn’t be induced, that they would have to break my waters as I was already 3cm.

At around 1-2pm my waters were broke, my contractions started extremely quickly, I had walked around to the room and I ended up straight on the gas and air as my contractions were every single minute and they were so strong.

I begged the nurses to check me because I could feel him coming, I was 7cm dilated. I told them to get me a doctor which they couldn’t at the time, instead I was injected with pethidine and they also gave me another injection to slow down my contractions.

I was in with 2 inexperienced midwives. The injection did not slow my contractions down at all on the monitor, they were still every minute. The injection did slow my labour down as after that I did not move from 7cm. I was in so much pain I cried so so much, the anaesthetist came and gave me an epidural, which I shouldn’t have needed but I took it anyway, the nurses then lay me down on the bed and the epidural travelled up my body and I could still feel everything except my arms, they kept spraying and spraying this cold spray and I told them numerous times what I could feel and what I couldn’t.

They turned the epidural off 10 minutes after and did not inform me, they asked me to pull myself up the bed but I couldn’t feel my arms, they trailed me up the bed and I was left with massive bruise on my arms.  They kept trying to take my blood pressure but I was in active labour. They then tried to take the gas and air off me, which was the only thing that helped for just a few seconds with the pain I was experiencing.

My partner and mum were both in with me. There was several nurses and midwives whose hands were up inside me to check and then the doctor had told me that my cervix was that swollen because of the contractions it was very unlikely I would be able to give birth naturally, this was around 5pm.

I begged them for a c section. I begged them so much because I had a son at home that needs me I knew that something was going to happen. My heart rate or the baby's was going to drop. The doctor then told me they had another emergency to deal with. A different anaesthetist came on shift and managed to get the epidural to work for a short while, until my heart rate and the baby's heart rate dropped I just remember the flash and being rushed into getting an emergency c section this was 5 hours later.

I begged for my partner to be there but they told me that might not have been possible. He managed to come into the room after I had the spinal. There was so many different people trying to talk to me at once but all I could focus on was the spinal instructions.

The c section was over very quickly, but my heart was so broken I didn’t get to hold my baby straight away or have his face beside mine because he was put straight on oxygen and I felt myself fading away.

My partner begged me to keep my eyes open and the anaesthetist also kept telling me to try and stay awake, I was put on oxygen also. I thought that was it for me.

I can’t remember how I got back up into the room but only hearing my baby’s cry once and then nothing really broke me.

Once I was brought up to the room, I felt ok, exhausted but ok, the midwife then asked me could they give my son the vitamin k injection , I replied no I didn’t agree with it and I don’t even like taking medication myself and that my first born did not have it. They then informed me that they had already given my baby the injection without my consent or my partners and that I could write a complaint if I wanted to.

The first night on the ward was awful, I had my baby the whole night and I couldn’t reach access to any of his stuff, I found the night staff so mean, and I had to keep calling them with the buzzer to get stuff for my baby.

My catheter was placed in wrong to the point it hurt. I expressed this. One of my IV drips was in wrong, to the point where my arm was swollen after. I expressed this. I walked about the next day with difficulty. I bled everywhere & I cried.

A healthcare staff came with compression stockings and asked my partner to put them on, but I was so swollen he couldn’t do it so we asked her to help me. They then proceeded to be very abrupt with me telling me it’s my fault my legs are like that because I need to get up more. I cried again.

The second night I dreaded. The health care staff placed the buzzer out of my reach and I was left in an extremely uncomfortable position, couldn’t even pull myself up the bed. I was determined to get home the next day.

I was moved from the room to the ward with a bed with no support to get in and out, I felt dizzy and hazy.

Both me and my family are traumatised by the experience. I’ve had no counselling, no support, no breakdown.