New mother Nicola full of praise for Shropshire maternity services
A new mother has praised the maternity services in Shropshire for the care she received during her pregnancy and while giving birth.
Nicola Roberts, 34, recently gave birth to her daughter Willow at the women and children’s centre based at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital.
She decided to speak out after Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was placed in special measures. The Care Quality Commission cited continuing concerns over maternity services after carrying our inspections.
Mrs Roberts says she could not fault the care she received from staff at the hospital, and has also thanked the community midwives for their support during her pregnancy.
Mrs Roberts, who lives in Whitchurch and is married to Frank, 39, said: “My husband and I were told we could not have children of our own, so when we found out in February that we were pregnant it was a huge shock.
“From the moment I contacted the community midwives we had the best care.
“From all the appointments at Whitchurch Hospital right through to baby Willow coming in to the world they were all amazing.
“I called the triage part of Telford maternity many times with reduced movements and it didn’t matter how many times I called they looked after us.
“The last time we went in I was having contractions and they kept us in.
“I was then moved over to antenatal to wait for my labour to progress a bit further. It was all moving slowly and I was in agonising pain.
Supported
“The fantastic midwife got me moved up to delivery suite so I could be given a drip to move things on a bit more.
“My baby was back to back and stuck in my hip.
“The midwife that was with us stayed calm and was so amazing and really made me feel safe and supported.”
She said she was given an epidural as she was struggling to cope after two nights of contractions.
“The midwives changed shift and I then had a midwife and a student midwife come in,” she said.
“Going in to night three of no sleep was hard going but those two fantastic women gave me what I needed to get my baby into the world.
“My little miracle baby arrived at 2.18am on October 31.
“I had to go into theatre afterwards as I needed one or two stitches and the wonderful midwives stayed with me all the way through.
“The doctors who put me back together were amazing and put me at ease with all that was going on.”
She also praised staff in the postnatal department, adding: “The staff in there were fantastic and when I was completely exhausted they looked after my baby to give me chance to sleep.
“They helped me try to breastfeed and even though I didn’t manage it they helped me with bottle feeding with no judgement.
“I think that we need to celebrate all of the staff there and the community midwives here in Whitchurch.
“They are all part of the wonderful journey I have taken to become a mum.
“They all made it so perfect and I want to thank them for everything.
“I would highly recommend Telford hospital to everyone as they moved mountains to help me.”
