Testimonials
We ask all the families we care for to give us feedback on our service. Here are some of the things they said:
What did you like about our service?
You worked around me
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I felt totally confident from the first time I spoke to Viv on the phone.
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I really valued that you were so calm and organised, but I also felt you fitted into what we wanted to do and what was important to us, e.g. getting wate rpool and organising to set it up upstairs.
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You never made us feel silly for such a late change of plan.
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My wife seemed very confident with you.
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Very positive approach throughout the birth and early weeks.
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Always felt fully supported and confident that if I had any problems you would come straight away.
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Loved the calm and gentle approach you took during the birth, which gave me the confidence to feel that I could deliver Kyle gently without the need for pain releif.
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I felt in safe and assured hands. Your knowledge and experience made me able to get on with supporting M, and caring for F. You are model professionals with a warm, personal touch (father)
- The continuity of care, seeing someone you know turn up to deliver your baby makes all the difference. (mother)
- I very much appreciated the continuity of care and the fact we could contact you at any time. (father)
- Personal approach, building up relationship with us and displaying sensitivity and care. (father)
- Did not try to push us into any direction = un-biased advice (mother and father)
- The level of support was total and knowing that you were always available in some way was very reassuring and enabling in my role of supporting H. (father)
- Personal holistic approach. Wonderful rapport. Loved the fact I could discuss anything with you both. Fantastic care both before and after S was born. Great to have you looking after us straight after birth. (mother)
- Through your support I felt very empowered to give birth the way I chose to (mother)
- Enabled me to weigh up the risks and make major decisions (mother)
- You gave me confidence in my ability to be a parent (mother)
- I'm sure your contribution made us all more calm and peaceful (mother)
- Dealing with the same people all the time
- Building a more personal relationship (mother)
- The feeling that its fine to call at any time, also about small things (mother)
- In general, the feeling of security (mother)
- We thought you guys were great and provided a great service (mother and father)
- The reassurance of knowing who will be there for the birth (father)
- The endless and invaluable help after the birth - I hadn't known we would need this so much. (father)
- The genuine and personal nature of the care (father)
- A fantastic support to let us get on and have a relaxed, wonderful, calm, memorable birth experience (father)
- I liked the fact that Viv arrived for appointments on a motorbike. What a cool midwife! (mother)
- An hour, at least, per appointment was a real treat in comparison to the 15 mins you get with NHS midwives. (mother)
- It was nice to be encouraged to be involved in my pregnancy and birth (mother)
- I was encouraged and supported in my choice to use Homeopathy and respected for my choices not to have scans etc.(mother)
- I felt like I had the support of a 'mother figure', especially when Marijn accompanied me to the hospital with Eliza. I felt you were both more than just my midwives. (mother)
- Most of all you were friendly, kind and easy to talk to. And with so much experience, your answers to my many questions were always very helpful and knowledgeable (mother)
- Loved the individual and personal service. (mother)
- Great support for natural home births, which I got (even though I changed my mind) (mother)
- Nice to spend the time getting to know the other members of the family, and teaching my toddler to draw in diaries (mother)
- Very friendly, highly personal, very warm hearted (mother and father)
- Made us feel relaxed and confident (mother and father)
- We never felt like clients, more like friends (mother and father)
Was there anything we could have done differently
- 8 out of 11 respondents answered 'no' or 'nothing' to this question, or left the space blank
- Had two midwives at the birth [the 2nd midwife was stuck in traffic and birth had progressed rapidly]
- The only thing I can think of relates to breastfeeding. A breastfeeding counsellor suggested that it was ok to 'shut the buffet' after a good feed so I could get little break, e.g. for an hour before the next feed.
- I would have double checked your 24 hour telephone availability, when ringing at commencement of labour and not getting through to either of you immediately was disconcerting (father) [we have changed our telephone system to avoid this ever happening again]
- Breastfeeding support and advice needs to be tailored to meet the needs of individual mothers and babies (mother) [we have reflected hard on our breastfeeding support and advice]