A new mum has described the overstretched conditions that staff at a maternity unit are dealing with as some are left close to tears. The maternity unit at Prince Charles Hospital (PCH) in Merthyr is currently having to cope with an increase in patients due to the temporary closure of the maternity unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital (POW) in Bridgend.
As a result, women who were due to give birth at POW are currently being sent to other neighbouring hospitals and one mum has described the impact this is having on both patients and staff. Coralanne Evans from Penrhiwfer was due to give birth to her third child in September and experienced more than a week’s delay to her planned induction. Both her previous births were delivered early due to 31-year-old Coralanne having a condition called obstetric cholestasis, which affects the mother’s liver.
Because of this condition, Coralanne was booked in for an induction on September 10, when she was just over 37 weeks pregnant, at PCH. However, before she attended the ward that day, she was phoned to say that there were no beds available for her. Instead, she was offered to visit the hospital daily for monitoring until a bed became available.
Coralanne continued to wait for a bed to become available as the week went on. She was finally offered one on September 14 but was told that the induction process couldn’t begin as there were no doctors available to create a plan due to dealing with other emergencies.
The induction process finally began on September 17. However, the next step was to break her waters, but there were no rooms available due to other births coming in. Staff at the hospital were described as being rushed off their feet, with one consultant close to tears and others feeling overwhelmed by the situation.
Coralanne eventually delivered her daughter Darla on September 19, nine days after her original induction date. She praised the staff for their care and support despite the challenging circumstances, but expressed frustration at how the closure of the POW maternity unit had been planned.
The health board acknowledged the increased demand at PCH and assured that they have additional staff to maintain the high standard of care. The work on the maternity unit at POW is on schedule, and there are ongoing efforts to support both patients and staff during this temporary period of increased activity.