Q: mine was 36 hours i had forceps and a cut which was the worst part and then my daughter was ill in intensive care due to being in distress and developing a chest infection. has anyone had any similar experiences? this has put me off for LIFE. i think midwifes are absolutely rubbish and i duno if u watched the programme on bbc1 about the maternity wards but something needs to be done
A: I'm so sorry to hear about your experiences with the birth of your baby. This is an issue that really goes unheard and unrecognised. I had a traumatic birth when my daughter was born 10 years ago. She is my only child due to the experience as I was sterilised while she was still a baby. I always assumed that midwives were compassionate people who were meant to make the birth experience pleasant, but I had several midwives during my labour. They would leave the room without warning and another would appear. They were mute and the only time they spoke was to bark at my husband or me. Although my daughter was in the back to back position throughout labour I was denied pain relief and treated worse than an animal. I wasn't even a 'difficult' labouring mum as in labour I was unable to speak or cry out with pain and became silent. This was in 1998. I vowed never again.