Mum describes 'horrendous' care at Swansea maternity unit where women facing pain relief delays

A mother who had an emergency caesarean birth said her husband had to bring her pain relief from home after she was left for eight hours without it at a Swansea hospital.

Heather Davies, from Loughor, also said she wasn't seen by a doctor for three days after giving birth at Singleton Hospital.

The mum-of-one gave birth to her son Finley prematurely after eight rounds of IVF.

She and her husband, Ceri, lost five babies during previous pregnancies before Finley arrived at 34 weeks.

While she described her experience leading up to and during the birth as "amazing", Heather said postnatal care at the hospital was "absolutely horrendous".

Heather gave birth in June last year, but results of an inspection in April that were published on Tuesday revealed women were still facing delays in getting pain relief.

It follows a previous inspection of Singleton Hospital in September, which ruled the maternity unit as "unfit for purpose" and highlighted the same delays in pain relief administration.

The Health Secretary Eluned Morgan placed the unit under enhanced monitoring and the health board commissioned an independent review.

Since then "significant improvements" have been made according to Tuesday's report, which praised hard-working staff for trying to provide families with a positive experience.

But Heather said it was "unacceptable" that women were still enduring some of the issues she faced there over a year ago.

Speaking about her experience, Heather said: "I was really surprised because leading up to that it was all really positive.

"The midwives were amazing, the doctors that I saw in the antenatal clinic for check-ups were always reassuring. It was all really positive up until I had him.

"He was already a miracle, and the fact that he was here was a miracle and I was worried and I wasn't getting any kind of help, empathy or reassurance from them whatsoever.

"I had pain relief when I asked for it, but then when I was moved to my own room I was pressing the buzzer and nobody was coming. It was really bad and I was left eight hours without pain relief.

"After giving birth to be not given sufficient pain relief, I don't think that's acceptable.

"I had an emergency c-section, that's a massive operation, and then to have to go and phone my husband to bring my pain relief in because my buzzer's not being answered, I just don't think that's acceptable."

Heather said she was kept in hospital longer than necessary due to what staff allegedly told her was a "mix-up".

She also claimed staff said they were "too busy" to take her to see Finley, who had been taken straight to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) following his birth.

"I wasn't able to get up and about so I wasn't able to go and see him," she said.

"I phoned by husband crying and he ended up driving down to the hospital so I could go and sit in the NICU with him."

During their visit in April, inspectors were concerned about unsafe staffing levels and found a lack of appropriate skill mix within the antenatal assessment unit.

Midwifery staff said they were not always able to access essential medical equipment to provide sufficient care to patients.

But inspectors said there had been significant improvements in mandatory training, a stable leadership was emerging, the unit was clean and free of clutter and there was effective team-working.

Swansea Bay University Health Board, which oversees around 3,200 births a year, said it is committed to continuously improving its maternity services.

It added that it is taking firm action to meet all the recommendations and pointed out that maternal and neonatal death mortality rates are lower at Singleton Hospital than in other similar services in the UK.

Llais, the independent body representing people receiving healthcare in Wales, said it is "concerned about the pace of change" at the maternity unit.

Mwoyo Makuto, Llais' regional director for Neath Port Talbot and Swansea, said: "We are aware that some people have lost trust that their voices will be heard and acted upon.

"That is where our statutory duties to listen to people ensuring their voices are heard by service providers is important.

"The pregnancy and giving birth journey is one of the most important experiences of people's lives. It is important to get it right for families. It is also important to learn from incidents when things go wrong."

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