23/04/2026
"I wanted to send a message to highlight the amazing staff that cared for me during my hospital stay for the birth of my first baby. I finally gave birth to my little angel on 2 Feb at 05:17am after a long induction process.
I want to mention a few amazing people from the antenatal ward: Chloe (maternity support worker), Meyer (midwife) and Poppy (student midwife) were all incredibly caring and helpful. They would check up on me throughout the day, not because they had to, but because they wanted to. You could tell how compassionate and professional they were. The induction flow coordinator was also incredible. She would come onto the ward multiple times a day to give us updates on delivery suite acuity and explained everything so thoroughly. She even popped in to see me when I arrived on delivery suite which was so lovely of her!
On delivery suite during the day, I was looked after by student midwife Sarah, midwife Sophie and midwife Alaynah during the night. Sarah and Sophie were so helpful whilst I was in labour- keeping me motivated with positive affirmations and telling me how good of a job I was doing. They decorated the room with my fairy lights and closed the curtains to make the space more comfortable for me. They went above and beyond to ensure I was looked after and had everything I needed. I really enjoyed the conversations and laughs we had!
On the night shift, I had midwife Alaynah (i think that’s how it’s spelt!) who was a pivotal person in my birthing experience. I quickly became very unwell during labour, with high temperatures, vomiting, and uncontrollable shaking. Alaynah was so supportive and really helped me to push through. In the end, I had to have an emergency C section which was terrifying but she was with me the whole way and was reassuring me loads. There was also a doctor who I heard had come in when she wasn’t supposed to just to help me which I am incredibly thankful for. Although I was not very conscious of what was going on around me that night, I am grateful to all of the staff who I saw come in and out of the room to help me during the most difficult time of my life.
From the postnatal ward, I want to give a special shoutout to Rian (student midwife) who was very knowledgeable, kind and professional. There was also another student midwife who worked nights but I can’t remember her name (dark hair, dark eyes). She helped me so much when it came to breastfeeding. As a first time mum, I didn’t know what I was doing, but she definitely did! She would sit with me for ages and we went through trial and error of different things. She brought me an electric pump to try, ni**le shields, showed me how to hold my breast and different positions to hold baby. Now I can breastfeed comfortably and I owe a lot of it to her!
It was the most challenging week of my life, but the people that looked after me made it bearable! Thank you so much to the incredible maternity staff☺️"
