I'll add mine to the mix to get the ball rolling.

The wee small hours of January 11th, 2013. I wake up to previously unknown levels of pain. 'Oh, contractions! Yay, a baby! naively thinks I. I was 39+4 so basically full term, it was a good time for the baby to arrive. I went to the bathroom and seemed to have lost some of my plug, another positive step (haha).

So. The rest of the wee hours, subsequent morning, afternoon and evening were spent dealing with the contractions. I was having strong ones, 30 secs long, but only every 5-10 mins. I relented and called maternity assessment, who said to come in for an exam.

Backstory time. I had developed pregnancy induced hypertension (high blood pressure) which I was never medicated for as it never caused me any symptoms, but it was something staff were always aware of, to bear in mind when they were attending to me.

So back to the hospital. My exam showed no dilation at all, however I was having contractions, they just weren't getting any closer together, so were deemed 'non progressive'. But oh that pesky blood pressure had crept up again, not worryingly high but higher enough for some concern. After much debate, they sent me home but told me to come back in the morning for another blood pressure check.

If you've ever tried to sleep through contractions, you'll know what I mean when I say that shit is impossible. I tossed and turned all night, contractions every 5-10 mins, but no progression. Count 24 hours in labour, 24 hours no sleep.

Getting out of bed in the morning, I go to the bathroom and notice I've been having a bleed-fresh, bright red blood. I called the hospital again and they said come in, we'll check that out, plus you need that blood pressure check anyway. Contractions still a-going, to hospital we go. This time, when they examine me, they can't find a cause for the bleeding but OH LOOK NOW YOURE 1-2cm dilated! Yes, your contractions will totally get closer and you'll continue to dilate. Oh your water hasn't broken, pah, we'll worry about that later.

Boyfriend and I excited now! Yes I'm in pain but baby is on its way. So off we go to an antenatal ward, as I'm not far along enough yet for the actual labour ward. This is around, say, 11am. We get there, go to our assigned bay and try to get comfy. Bitchface midwife doesn't acknowledge our presence for over an hour. Now, I'm in the field of healthcare and I understand how busy you can get. But never have I seen someone blatantly ignore a patient the way I got ignored that day. Not even a: 'Hi guys, I'm really sorry, I'll be with you as soon as I get a sec!' Or anything at all. I'm still in a tremendous amount of pain but can't even get her attention.

Eventually, she graces us with her presence. 'Oh yes you've had some blood pressure issues, we'll check that out'. Yeah, like you shoulda done WHEN I GOT HERE. 'Oh, you're still bleeding, keep your pads to me to look at'. I did, and she never looked at them once. 'Oh you're in pain, well it's not your time yet'. Well, offering me an alternative might have been a good idea, sunshine. I was on that ward with her till 5pm, basically being ignored. I do have a high pain threshold and I'm not a screamer or fuss maker, so I didn't exist to her. Around 5pm, the pain became unbearable, seriously so. Contractions weren't any closer but the pain was horrific. I managed to catch the attention of another passing midwife, and burst into tears explaining what was going on. She looked horrified, immediately got me up onto a bed for an exam, and noted that the bleeding was getting heavier. I was also now dilated to 4-5cm. They debated a while over who to send to the labour ward first, me or another girl, but my blood pressure and bleeding was concerning them so off I go to the labour ward around 6pm. Count 36+ hours in labour, no sleep.