"I can tell you for a fact that the maternity services need a serious overhauling."

A mother’s experience of Oxford University Hospitals Maternity Services in 2023:

I’m a nurse in the JR and I can tell you for a fact that the maternity services need a serious overhauling. In the heat of the moment, I didn’t realise how poorly I was being treated but anytime I think of my experience, I know I should have been treated better.

As a new mum who had laboured for almost 48 hours and with 2 failed epidurals, the nurse assigned me her duty of emptying my catheter and telling her the amount each time I emptied it. Maybe if the nurse had told me her rationale was wanting me to mobilise more, it wouldn’t have sounded as ridiculous.

My husband was not allowed to stay over the night according to ‘policy’. They refused my friend giving me food, but she persisted and was eventually allowed. I wished the nurses/midwives maintained this energy of not allowing visitors when I rang the call bell for anything, the way they did with not allowing visitors stay.

There were few amazing people nevertheless, like the lovely midwife that took care of me when I was in level 2 (not too sure but I was given epidurals here) and the amazing student nurse that gave me a cup of tea and toast (P.S- Student nurse was broken and cried to a mutual friend after seeing the state of intense pain I was in. Didn’t know her prior and I got to find out through same mutual friend).

A lot needs to be done as regards communication and pain management. I think it’s time these ‘policies’ are looked into whilst adopting what really works and not some bloodless logic.