Seven easy ways to make maternity care safer for women – and save them from the trauma I suffered
I’m just one of many mums who still replays the callousness and lack of care I experienced on an NHS maternity ward seven years later, writes Alexis Paton – which is why I’ve made it my mission to do something about it
“Just get it yourself,” was the answer, the first time I asked for water in postnatal recovery.
“You again,” said another. “You’re supposed to get up and start walking around. It helps.” And just like that, she was gone.
But I could not get up. Thanks to an epidural, I was frozen from the waist down. The midwives had placed all my belongings behind my bed – and the baby just out of reach. Only a plea to bring her closer in order to breastfeed finally made the penny drop that I could not, in fact, even move to feed my own child. It’s been well over seven years, but I see it and replay that callousness in my mind clearly, even today.
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