Musings on a Hospital Stay

Nov 30, 2011 by cafebebemama

Last week I spent 6 1/2 days in our local hospital in preparation for the delivery of our gorgeous Sam. Until last week, I had never spent any time in hospital other than for the labour/delivery of Ella 3 1/2 years ago. Thankfully, Peterborough City Hospital is only just one year old. The hospital itself is HUGE! I checked in to Maternity Inpatients where they look after pre-labour situations, inductions and post-delivery patients. When I was transported from delivery theatre and recovery back to Maternity Inpatients I ended up slightly car sick thanks to the length of the journey!

I do have to commend Peterborough City Hospital staff, however. My stay in hospital was as pleasant as it could have possibly been. The meals were decent with plenty of gluten-free options and rather yummy puds. The wards were quite large with free televisions (albeit only terrestrial channels) and I can’t fault the cleanliness. When a patient left, within minutes there were several members of the cleaning crew who stripped the bedding, cleaned thoroughly around the bay and left a clean and ready bed in their wake.

In my pre-delivery days, I didn’t cause much trouble for the midwives/staff. Because there wasn’t much wrong with me I was pretty much left on my own which had it’s pros and cons. However, if I needed anything I only had to press my buzzer and someone came very quickly. My stay in the old Peterborough District Hospital was no where near as pleasant, that’s for sure. NHS money has been very well spent in Peterborough City Hospital. I never want to spend any time there again, however, as it’s just not fun to stay in any hospital. Unless it’s The Portland Hospital. I have a feeling it’s pretty fun to stay there.

One of the BEST parts of my stay at hospital was that after leaving recovery, I was transferred back to the Maternity Inpatients ward to fulfill the rest of my stay. Single rooms are available at Peterborough City Hospital (at a cost of £80/day) and I was prepared to pay that to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. I enquired about that and they informed me that as I had just come out of a planned/emergency c-section, they would want me closest to the midwife station which was not a single room. As I was wheeled into place I found that I was the only person in the 4 bay ward. Another patient was brought in mid-morning on Friday but due to her baby having jaundice, they transferred her and her baby to another ward. I remained the ONLY person in my 4 bed ward for the remainder of my stay! Simply brilliant. I didn’t have to worry about anyone else, feel self-conscious or worry about waking anyone. This was certainly unusual but effectively, I ended up with a “single room” for FREE! Not a bad arrangement.

As I had plenty of time to muse on my hospital stay, I found I learned several things about myself during my 6 1/2 days at Peterborough City Hospital:

• Daytime Telly SUCKS! Particularly daytime terrestrial telly. When you have Freeview channels to distract you can at least count on a bit of music or reality cheese but when your only choices are ITV’s Daybreak, Jeremy Kyle or The Hairy Bikers, television loses its ability to distract pretty quickly. I am pleased to report that I have totally caught up on Neighbours and Home & Away, however. Thank goodness.
• Hospital beds, despite being able to raise and lower, are pretty uncomfortable and the pillows are not terribly sleep-inducing. If you’re spending any length of time in hospital, bring your own pillow. I only thought of this with one day to remain at hospital which was hardly worth it.
• Bring your phone charger! Your mobile will become your lifeline, particularly if you don’t get a lot of visitors. I know some hospitals restrict or even prohibit mobile usage, but if you are permitted, be sure to bring your charger, check your data plan and update any apps and/or music you might find useful and distracting.
• I have been reminded that I am a HORRIBLE beaky-boo! The patient who was in the bay next to me was struggling with gestational diabetes, was not eating and was refusing to take her medication at 34 weeks pregnant. No one came to visit her AT ALL. Any time a midwife and/or social services worker came to visit her to discuss her situation I would become Queen of the Beaky Boos, turn down the volume on my telly and eavesdrop on the conversation. It was far better distraction than the telly, that’s for sure. Wonder if she’s still there??
• I really need to learn how to SHOUT when I am upset, frustrated or fed up. I was so very lonely during my stay with very few visitors which was understandable considering people were working. I felt like I was an after-thought a lot of the time on the ward before we had Sam. I was so quiet and undemanding that I think I was forgotten most of the time. If you want answers to questions, you have to shout. Hospital staff are run off their feet. They don’t have time for much of anything so obviously their priority are the patients who need more attention. If you want to be heard, you have to learn how to SHOUT.

I will be writing up our Birth Story very soon where I will share more about my exceptionally positive and entirely different c-section experience compared to Ella’s. But I wanted to give credit where credit is due. Peterborough City Hospital was a wonderful place in which to be cared for even though I didn’t want to be there. They took good care of me and brought Sam safely into the world. On behalf of myself, my husband and my daughter and son, I would like to thank the staff at Peterborough City Hospital and the NHS.