"RWBH Maternity ward"

I have recently my first baby at the Royal Brisbane Women Hospital and I just feel now comfortable after several weeks to leave this feedback.

We presented to hospital a few months ago, my contractions were 3 every 10 minutes and no water broken yet.

The doctor at the ORC wanted to send me home because I was only 2 cm and I will not give birth until the next day in their opinion. My spouse really fought so we could stay the night monitored in the hospital because the contraction were too close and we did not want to go home. Luckily, we stayed because one hour and half later the water broke and I dilated from 2 cm to 8 cm. I was rushed to the birth suite. 

The birth experience was amazing with a midwife Janine. I felt she was so respectful of my birth preference and everything went smooth. The baby was out in two hour with VB, with no complication at all and no medication used, just how I wanted to be. 

The disappointment came once I was transferred at the ward. I hoped to go home after 24 hr, but the baby has jaundice so we need to stay until their blood exam were good with bilirubin levels. 

I stayed 4 night at the maternity ward and the following happened:

-The first nurse teach me how to stimulate the breast for milk and not how to expressed by hand. I spent one day just massaging instead of pressing. Then the lactation consultant, which I requested the day before, confirmed the mistake and teach me how to express the colostrum. So one day loss and the bub has formula in meanwhile because I have to feed my baby in some way since I was convinced I don't have any milk.

-I have asked after the second day to bath the baby and had the first nurse saying that she was too busy in the morning shift but we can do by ourself in the bath ward. The second nurse saying that her colleague was on break and she will came later and never showed up. At night the nurse didn't want to bath the baby because was too cold. So we stayed 4 days with no bathing. I think for new parents' should be a policy procedure to teach them how to bath a newborn, is that much to ask? Apparently it was too much. 

-No one showed us how to swaddle a newborn, we asked for it and there was never time for it. Again is that a normal thing to show  a first time parents?

-The second day was full on with all the examination for the discharge. Two nurse at the time, one doing the prick and wheel test with an apprentice  and the other one  assessing me for the discharge. The wheel and prick test was executed from the apprentice and took a long time to collect the blood, meanwhile the baby was crying out. I started to cry since it was the first time to see the baby in that condition and obviously as a first mum, the emotion was too much. Despite this the nurse did not stop the assessment, she was asking question and I was answering crying with the baby crying desperately on the other corner. It looked rushed, something that needs to be done. is this how is supposed to be? No empathy whatsoever or a comfort word. So disappointed.

-The fourth day, another lactation consultant came in with an expressing Medela machine they put than on my breast to have some colostrum to feed the baby. The colostrum was not much and they left without saying anything else. They left the Medela machine there and I thought they forgot that close to my bed. Then, at night time the nurse told me that, I was supposed to express every two hours. No training how to use the machine and the flange. I was not discharge for baby jaundice and the feeding was the most important part of it but lactation consultant seemingly forget to train me how to express the colostrum and to tell me to do it every two hours. I felt they just did not do their job properly, always rushed, no care and no effective communication.

-The last night, my spouse went to the yard to complain with a nurse and they found Tash to tell everything what has being happened in the past three days. She was not the nurse looking after us that night but she took one hour to show us the swaddling, how to use the express machine and why it was important to express every 2/3 hour for the jaundice. No one had done that in our stay in the ward before. My spouse and I were crying from exhaustion and the feeling of being not looked after. I don't think anyone should feel in this way  in the first days of parenthood, where you cry in a hospital bed and your spouse crying leaning on the wall. Tash was very good to take care of us both because we were crumbling in front of her. She send home my spouse to rest and assured them that she will look after me. She did it and I felt it was the only one is three days. That night, I expressed every 3 hours and feed the baby and the next morning I was out of the hospital. I believe if the same care of Tash was given us the first or second day, I will not be that long in the hospital. 

The experience left us very disappointed and I still feel hurt from this. It was too painful to see my spouse crying and it was painful to cry in front of a nurse and to ask for answers and help. The kind of care that I believe was supposed to be given without asking. I hope with this feedback  other parent cannot have this experience.