I'm in!
I gave birth to DS2 8 weeks ago and my midwife didn't believe i was in labour until i was actually pushing. DS1's labour was short and since then, i have developed a medical condition that meant i required consultant care during my pregnancy.
I had a scan, my waters had broken (i told the midwife and showed her my pad, but she said it wasn't my waters) and i was having very close and regular contractions. The woman who was doing the scan was completely baffled as to why i was having a growth scan because i was clearly in labour. She kept saying 'are you sure you've told the midwives?!' and told me to tell them again once i got back up there just to make sure, which i did. They seemed completely uninterested/ unconvinced.
I then had some consultants come to see me (i was supposed to have them in the room when i was in labour in case i needed a c-section due to a medical condition that i have, but due to poor planning, they didn't make it in time) who had the cheek to say 'so, you think you're in labour now then?' and stick a HUGE cannula in my hand, despite me telling them they needed to use a smaller one as i have child-sized hands and i've had them before. It was disgusting and SO painful, DP almost passed out.
I was asking for gas and air when it got too much to bear, only to be told they they didn't have it on the pre-labour ward. She said she'd put me on the monitor in two hours time and then see if they could move me down to the labour ward. I was too scared to tell her that i wasn't going to make it another two hours, because she was making me feel like a silly little girl who was making it all up! I started to cry because i though 'either i AM being silly and it's going to get so much more painful than it is now, or this is it and no one but DP believes me!'.
An hour and a half later DP stepped out of the room to get some water. I had a huge contraction with the overwhelming urge to push. I couldn't reach the button to call the midwife, so had to scream as loud as i could to get a passerby's attention. Despite being in hospital for over 24 hours at that point, i hadn't been internally examined at all, and hadn't been put on the monitor for a long while. I was terrified that i wasn't fully dilated and would do some serious damage to myself or the baby if i pushed.
Even at that point she was still asking if she thought i could get in the wheelchair to go down to the labour ward, when i was screaming in pain and terror on the bed. I had to be wheeled through the corridors screaming, which was embarrassing and i also probably frightened the life out of the other women in there!
Luckily the midwives on the labour ward were amazing and the pushing part of my labour was only 13 minutes long, but i felt i had been seriously let down by my midwife on the pre-labour ward.
Sorry, bit long, i've been trying not to think about it for the past few weeks and this just made me rant a little!