"Maternity & Birthing Wards"

Hi,

First of all I'd like to say how impressed I am with the patient care I received after giving birth in the Townsville Maternity & Birthing Ward. The staff here are outstanding and incredible and have been so accommodating. I definitley look forward to that for future births.

The only point I wish to raise about my stay here is the lack of knowledge about diet and allergies. Directly after giving birth I provided the staff with my allergy advice before being admitted to the ward. The allergy advice I provided was, I am a coeliac and I am currently avoiding dairy and soy as my baby (whom I am still breastfeeding) is allergic to these. Throughout my stay here, for breakfast, lunch and dinner I continued to receive gravy and milk on and with all of my meals. As I am now breastfeeding, I am extremely hungry and required my husband and family to bring food in from outside the hospital, so I had something to eat. I brought this issue up with the nursing staff and they apologised for this. However I continued to receive these meals for the following 2 days.

As I mentioned above, the staff that cared for me here have been outstanding. My only concern here is that dietary requirements should be taken much more seriously as if my baby received either any dairy or soy, he would have been sick for weeks.

Your consideration with this issue would be greatly appreciated for the health of future patients.

Thank you.