NHS Trends and Thinking Twice

This time last year I was preparing for the birth of our son. Holding onto Tinnie as long as I could in an attempt to avoid a Christmas day birth (he was due on the 27^th of December) he arrived on the 26^th after a quick rush to the hospital in the early hours. 

Around the same time as Tinnie’s due date there were many figures coming out about the increase of operations going wrong on a Friday. I was lucky my birth was not during the weekend but being in the early hours of Boxing Day I still feel that the service was not at its best. It’s a huge worry that claims for medical negligence has increasedby 80 % in just 6 years.

When we arrived at the hospital the ward was very quiet with few staff to go around and with my waters showing a large show of meconium I was very worried. The Midwifes were stretched and of course this meant we went long periods of time without any one there for reassurance.

As it turned out all was well Tinnie arrived within 3 hours of my contractions starting and his little newborn body was completely clean when he was delivered. This meant that after the check they were happy to let us go, we just needed to hang around for roughly 4 hours to make sure.

After a few days of being home and experiencing visits from the mid wife we noticed Tinnie cord was still attached but had started to smell. I regularly washed and dried this area but did not bath him as the Midwife had explained not to do this until he was 1 week old. When the mid wife came to visit on the 31^st December she agreed that the area looked infected and he needed to be taken into hospital in case the infection had entered his little stomach. I was of course devastated and rushed him in.

Once we reached the hospital the doctor explained that this was most likely caused by the area not being soaked in the bath as using wet muslin would not do the same job.  She agreed with me that I such have followed my instinct and bathed him the day after he was born. I had listened to the midwife and put my son at risk. That will be the last time I ignore my knowledge as a mum and child carer.

In collaboration with First4Lawyers