Trying to stay calm. As the blue flashing lights pulled up outside and the paramedics came in to tend to our baby. What would we have done without them?
Nobody else was home, nobody who could drive anyway. What if they hadn’t sent an ambulance or they didn’t get here so fast. What if he’d had a seizure? What if?
His skin mottled, burning up and shaking, vomiting. What was happening? An hour ago he was playing. Happy. Giggling. Not sick.
In they came. Calm, collected, and ready to help. Heroes. At that moment in time, they were my heroes. This was a positive experience for us when it comes to the NHS and their level of care.
Two calm and caring paramedics who not only made sure our baby was OK but made sure I was too. A level of care we might not always receive from our overworked and exhausted NHS. But a level of care that does exist and for me far outweighs many of the bad experiences we may come across.
Fortunately, on this occasion, it was a simple infection that caused Little Fox to turn so quickly. Nothing antibiotics couldn’t fix. But at the time it was scary. Any mother would agree, seeing your baby in distress is enough to scare you for life.
I’ve had mixed experiences with the NHS. From this one to the birth of Little Fox. It’s no wonder so many people take action and claim NHS compensation because it isn’t always perfect.
I still look back on his birth and can’t believe the midwife who had been with us for the last 3 hours changed shift 15 minutes before he arrived. 15 minutes. Couldn’t she hang around? What was the reason? I’ll never know.
Mid-push, as they handed one another over. I was too busy to care at the time. I was a little busy. But I do care.
Looking back I felt abandoned. This lady had helped me through everything. For the last 3 hours she was guiding us.I’d never done this before. She was going to help us bring our baby into the world. We couldn’t do it without her.
And just like that. With the strike of a clock, she was gone. Replaced. Somebody else was there. Who was she? Did she know what was going on?
A simple shift change and a shortage of staff on New Year’s eve meant multiple shift changes. And many hours of waiting.
Being left for 4 hours waiting to be stitched up. Sat in a hospital bed bleeding under the sheets whilst your father and relatives arrive to see the new baby. Still waiting.
Little Fox was born at 14:39 pm on New Years Day. And we didn’t get a bed on a ward until 2:00 am the next morning. Waiting. So many hours waiting. Waiting for stitches, waiting for a bed. Waiting to be cared for.
Knowing we have the NHS gives me confidence every day that should something ever go wrong, somebody is there to help and we won’t be slapped with a hefty bill we cannot afford at the end of it.
What would we do without the NHS? Imagine if we didn’t have this service available to us? It may be imperfect at times, we may be left waiting for hours. It could be better. But what would we do without it?
