"They had forgotten I was there, so I was there for a longtime vomiting"

A mother’s experience of Oxford University Hospitals Maternity Services in 2021:

I gave birth to our daughter in November 2021 at OUH. I was booked in for an induction because there was suspicion that our baby was small for her gestational age. Almost everything went wrong.

Although staff acted with the best intentions, I felt bullied into upping the oxytocin quickly, even though it didn't feel like the right thing to do. This led to a placental abruption, followed by an emergency c-section. In the course of this c-section, they hit a urinary artery, leading to further blood loss. At the same time, I also had an allergic reaction to the drugs I was given, leading to vomiting, a rash and low blood pressure.

Next morning, I was placed in a wheelchair in the corridor waiting for a ct-scan. They had forgotten I was there, so I was there for a longtime vomiting. There was still bleeding on the scan, so I needed to come back for another ct-scan a couple days later. I was, however, dismissed the next day, and they seemingly forgot about the scan.

The aftercare in the hospital ward was very limited (partly because of covid restrictions), but I was never given any pain relief medicine. I had to get myself out of bed to change the baby's nappy because there was no one there. I’ve never felt despair like it.

I requested my notes some time later, which they were reluctant to hand over. When I finally got them, there were some redactions and they have re-written some of the narrative in retrospect, including no mention of my attempts to argue against speeding up the induction. When I had a conversation with them about my aftercare, we were absolutely gaslit about what happened, and told to focus on the miracle that was our baby.

Now some years later, I have the most beautiful girl. But the scar never healed properly.