Birmingham Women's Hospital

I have waited 2 hours at Pacific waiting area and I'm still waiting. No explanation of why there is such a wait and just apologise, they never tell you what the wait is for. They then try and get you in and out and you feel rushed. I get they're so busy

The scan was fast and on time. Really efficient. All the questions I had were answered, they were good.

Bloods was good as they gave me time to ask any questions I had. It's all been fine.

The breastfeeding advice I received for my first child was abysmal and by that I mean that I received none at all for over two days and then, when I did receive advice, it was only a short-term fix. I wanted to breastfeed and brought no formula to the hospital. I did bring some expressed colostrum. My son was born via emergency caesarean, so I was struggling mentally, emotionally, and physically in ways I never anticipated after giving birth. Someone saw him latch and assumed that he was feeding well. Later, I couldn't get him to feed. Instead of helping me learn to feed my baby, hospital staff gave me a giant pumping machine and left me to it. I was sore and anxious after emergency surgery and soon had sore boobs from using incorrectly sized phalanges. I was leaking out colostrum to feed my baby with a syringe and no one told me I should do anything differently. I carried on for two days and finally asked a student midwife why I hadn't yet be discharged. She said that no one had seen me feed my baby. I was irate. Up until then, no one had even hinted that I couldn't be discharged soon, and no one had offered help. I demanded (probably none too politely) to see someone who could help me learn to feed. Finally, a breastfeeding consultant came and gave me a nipple guard. My nipples were large and flat, so this helped. I was told to use it as long as I needed. Finally, I was discharged.
For a week, breastfeeding was awful. My boobs were sore and my nipples were chapped. The nipple guard helped my baby to latch, but it was not improving my pain. I got free help online from La Leche League. I was told to ditch the nipple guard ASAP so my son didn't become dependent on it. After a couple of painful days, our breastfeeding drastically improved and it was a breeze for the next 20 months until we stopped.
I breastfeed my second with no trouble, and much less trauma, but I never had to ask for advice the second time.
I've warned every pregnant woman I know to demand breastfeeding advice ASAP and to not take no for an answer. It's ridiculous to have to fight for such basic advice.

I had an appointment with the doctor. I was seen really quickly and then saw a nurse too.

The scan was alright and didn't wait long. The process was explained and the pictures were okay. I was happy with the process.

Waiting to see a doctor which is fine. They're usually quite quick and have no problems.

Ward 2 for my scan was good. They were lovely in there and were helpful and talked to me the whole time. All was very good.

They were very good at antenatal and didn't wait too long. They did my bloods and urine test. It was all straightforward and quick.

The scan was good and I was able to ask questions.