"I complained about pain after being stitched and still needed gas & air. They told me I didn’t need it"

A mother's experience of Oxford University Hospitals Maternity Services in 2016 and 2021:

I gave birth in Nov 2016, July 2018 & December 2021.

In 2016 I was left with a massive hematoma where I was stitched whilst bleeding internally. This led to an emergency surgery. I complained about pain after being stitched and still needed gas & air. They told me I didn’t need it - I proceeded to go to the bathroom & almost fainted.

My birth in 2021 resulted in my son being admitted to the HCU due to pneumonia. During my 38 week midwife appointment it was noted that baby was sideways - my waters then broke the Wednesday afternoon. I went to the MAU they scanned and saw baby’s he’d wasn’t engaged and I was told I needed to stay in due to the risk of the cord dropping down. I didn’t start labouring at all.

Baby & I were not checked at regular intervals - I was just left in the room. Due to Covid restrictions still in place I was on my own most of the time.

On the Thursday late afternoon around 6/7 they decided to put the monitor on and noticed babies movements had significantly decreased. I was then rushed down for an emergency caesarean.

Baby [baby name] was born - they checked him, handed him back and returned us to the delivery suite. We have pictures from in between & [baby name] being rushed away.

In the delivery suite they noticed that he wasn’t breathing properly. They then transferred him to the HCU & my partner had to leave shortly after. I was in the recovery suite & then transferred to the ward with all the other mothers & babies whilst mine wasn’t with me & I had zero information.

Only the next afternoon when my partner was able to come up did they then move me. [baby name] ended up having pneumonia and it was touch and go.

I feel these issues could have been avoided if they listened to mothers. If they took proactive steps rather than waiting for things to go a miss.