"I had a very positive birth experience"

I was pregnant during 2024 and gave birth in November 2024.

I was assigned Hannah as my community midwife (Airdrie Community Midwife team). Hannah took excellent care of me and was a wonderful support to me throughout my pregnancy. She took the time to establish my anxieties and concerns, and create a plan to tackle and manage these. 

The end result is that I had a very positive birth experience, after having had an extremely negative experience when I delivered our first baby during Covid when a number of restrictions were in place.

I attribute this positive experience to the time and effort Hannah put in to ensuring all relevant staff were aware of my concerns and the plan in place. She continued this support beyond my delivery when our son was taken into neonatal care and I was on the postnatal ward, and during her visits to me at home until I was discharged to the health visiting team. Hannah’s care and diligence in looking after me undoubtedly prevented me falling into a negative headspace, which was my experience following delivery of our first sone. I am extremely grateful to Hannah for this. 

I attended University Hospital Wishaw scanning department throughout my pregnancy for scans, which were carried out by Susan. Susan took excellent care of me each time I attended. She approached me with empathy and kindness, listening to my worries and was extremely thorough in the scans of our baby.

She reassured me throughout my scans, where appropriate, when I was obviously anxious due to a previous loss. She was happy to answer my questions (and follow up questions), and explain anything I was unsure about. Susan has an excellent bedside manner, her approach and kindness had an incredible impact in keeping my anxiety at bay.

She went above and beyond to ensure I had a positive experience with my antenatal care, and was reassured that our baby was healthy and growing well. She also provided the clearest scan pictures, which was lovely to show our first son and family members. 

I elected to have a c-section following delivery of our first son via c-section. This took place at University Hospital Wishaw.  I was looked after by Amy before my section in the pre theatre ward. It was clear to me that Amy had taken the time to read my notes, she was aware of my worries and anxieties around birth and my previous delivery. She took time to listen to my concerns and explain/reassure me where appropriate.

Throughout my c-section and following the birth of our son, Amy took excellent care of me, my husband and our newborn son. She was not overbearing yet extremely diligent in her care of us. She was happy to answer any questions I had and reassure me.  She extended many small gestures to me that had such a positive impact. For example, she took time to let me choose a hat following delivery - this seems a small insignificant thing, but it meant so much to me and was a thoughtful gesture. It took some time for a bed to be found for me in the post natal ward and she kept me updated as to what was happening and the progress with this. 

I also had a very positive experience with the anaesthetist, Barry and his assistant Rachel. Prior to my c-section both came to speak with me, go over the procedure, consent, and discuss any concerns. Again, it was clear to me they had taken the time to read my notes, identified that I was anxious about the procedure due to my previous experience.

Barry took the time to listen to my concerns, and explain things and reassure me. In taking the time to do this, many of my worries and anxieties were reduced or disappeared. For example, in raising my concerns about the epidural and risks attached to this, he gave a simple explanation of some of the things that we do every day that are higher risk - a simple explanation, that allowed me to put this worry to the back of my mind. This allowed me to go into theatre in a positive headspace, which made my overall experience a positive one.

Throughout the c-section, both Barry and Rachel talked me through what was happening, reassured me, and told me how well I was managing. This made a procedure which was terrifying to me, bearable and led me to have a very positive birth experience. 

Dr Malcolm was my consultant and carried out my c-section for our first son, and was kind enough to accept my request to deliver our second son via c-section.  Dr Malcolm attended the ward prior to my c-section. He, like the other staff I encountered prior to delivery, had taken the time to read my notes, and remembered our previous experience. He also took the time to go through my concerns and reassure me where appropriate before and during my c-section when he could. He was extremely neat in stitching my incision wound, which healed perfectly, for which I am very grateful.