"they [OUH staff] wouldn't recommend me having a baby at the hospital as nothing was in a good state."

Anonymous
Aug 20
3 min read

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

I gave birth at the JR after being transferred from the RBH with heavy bleeding and the potential for a preterm birth. I gave birth at around 26 weeks and my child unfortunately passed away after a week. During my time at the hospital and since, there are certain things that have made me uneasy. Here are some of those things:

Dismissing heavy bleeding as nothing. Told them about bleeding and was dismissed as nothing every time.
Blood tests indicated an infection upon my arrival at the hospital but told this was nothing.
After 3 days in hospital, further blood tests were ordered but they never happened. Later found out they had been cancelled. No reason was ever given for this.
Describing contractions to multiple members of staff and being told it was just back pain and given paracetamol. I was even told by one member of staff to go for a walk.
I was sent down for a scan with someone who spent the whole time coughing and touching their mask. They didn't know why they were scanning me and they opened their emails to check but couldn't read what she had been sent. Instead of checking just proceed to scan me and chose to scan my cervix.
At the end of the scan she appeared concerned and phoned to speak to a doctor. She phoned several times and got no answer. She said someone would come and see me about the scan. No doctor ever came to speak to me about my scan.
On day 5 of my care, a doctor came to see me. He said that nothing in my notes indicated they were concerned despite the heavy bleeding, the contractions, the preterm birth test and the scan. He put my symptoms in to the Tommy app and said there was a 7% chance of my child coming but within 4 hours my child was born. I really don't think an app should have been used in any circumstance.
While I was in active labour, a doctor was trying to hand me leaflets about having a premature child.
Due to my cannula not being changed regularly, it burst while I was in labour and they were trying to administer medication. This medication they could have given to me before this point but they said they didn't see the need to.
I saw a lot of different members of staff over my time on the maternity ward. Often staff would come in and out without introducing themselves and would acted shocked when I asked who they were. At one point just after I had given birth and was waiting to get transferred upstairs (I was also on my own), a midwife came in shouting another member of staff's name and asking if I had seen her. She then went on to explain all about the woman who was sicker than me next door.
During a follow-up appointment with a midwife at the hospital a few days after giving birth, I told them I was feeling low and was crying a lot. I was visibly distressed and on my own. They showed no emotion and said that it was fine and only if I was feeling suicidal that they would get me to speak to someone.
A few days after this I had another follow up appointment with my partner and he began asking questions about how it had all got to this point and nothing was done before. The midwife swiftly went and got the ward manager. The ward manager then began explaining to me that it was the RBH who had questions to answer not them.
I have attended a few meetings involving a senior members of staff about what happened to me and I feel like they often avoid questions or try to distract from certain parts of the story. One meeting I recently attended about the possibility of another pregnancy. They told me during the meeting that my care was mess. They then went on to say that they wouldn't recommend me having a baby at the hospital as nothing was not in a good state. They also said a family member had recently given birth there and from that experience they wouldn't recommend it. I know nothing is going to change what happened to me and my child. I just don't want this to happen to other women.