During my doorstep visits I met a lovely family who had just welcomed little 8 day old William into their home. After we took their portraits, we got chatting about their experience and I was so interested to know how it compared to their previous experiences as William is their third. I asked Charlotte is she would to pen a few words to share, as I thought it might be of interest to all those expecting mommas who are feeling a little anxious. Of course everyone's experiences are very different in all aspects and this is just a view of one family.
"William was my third baby and he was born at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on 13th May 2020. Before the labour, I must admit that I was quite anxious about what my hospital experience would be like. Having had two incredibly positive experiences at the same hospital previously, I should have felt very reassured about what was to come. However, due to: the pandemic, living in lockdown and being unsure as to whether my husband would be able to be with me, I felt very differently about the experience. How wrong I was to do so! On arrival, the midwives took great care of me (as they have always done), my husband, Henry had his temperature checked before he was able to join me in the room (I had to be in active labour for Henry to join), the hospital was incredibly quiet and calm, I had a fantastic birth and Henry was then able to stay with me for two hours once William was born. The only slight difference from the other two births were that the midwives were wearing PPE. We were so incredibly well looked after, with tea and biscuits to celebrate our lovely little bundle of joy! Luckily, I was home by the afternoon, just in time for tea with my two other little ones! I really wish I hadn’t worried so much about what was to happen because the whole experience was an incredibly positive one. To stress further, how lucky we are to have our wonderful NHS and particularly for me, how lucky we were to have such amazing midwives to look after us!"
