"Getting to the birth suite"

Overall it was a good experience in the maternity space at the hospital. Some very knowledgeable and caring midwife’s. They helped to manage my wife’s pain well.

However, I would like to make note of an experience we had with one midwife who we felt didn’t respect our rights and we felt forced our hand into a vaginal assessment. I talked to my wife before, knowing the midwife would ask to do an assessment, and she said she was in so much pain and she didn’t want it. When the midwife came in and asked we politely declined but the midwife said my wife couldn’t go into to the birth suite without an assessment to make sure she was progressing. Even though I believe it was obvious that she was progressing because her waters had broke and contractions had gone from the 3-4 within 10 mins to every minute. For more context for the last 45+hours she was having 3-4 within 10mins. I believe it was very obvious that she was progressing.

I tried to be an advocate for my wife and I believe the midwife didn’t respect our choice. To add, waters broke at 3am and she wasn’t moved from assessment unit to birth suite for 3 hours. She was left alone in so much pain in the assessment unit. Until midwife came in and without consent did a vaginal assessment and decided my wife was progressing. Hallelujah 

I would also like to note I’m not sure if this is normal but it felt like my wife had to jump through every hoops before being allowed to go into the birth suite. She had a 52 hour labour and was sent home three times from the hospital before allowing to go into the suite. So every time my wife went to hospital she was stressed that she was going to keep getting sent home.