I would like to say a massive thank you to my midwife, who was with me all the way through my labour even though her shift was over. I had a bad birth because I had a serious infection and was very sick. My midwife persuaded the doctors to re-examine my trace because my baby had not met three traces, despite the fact that the third was better. She pointed out that the baby still hadn't met the three traces. She stood for hours, holding the monitor. I offered to hold it so she could rest her back. Not once did she take me up on it.

Sadly, her shift was over, and she passed me over to the next midwife. But at my birth, she was back; she said she saw my buzzer and had to come back in; she was so lovely. I was shaking, as I was so cold because of the infection. She got some more blankets. She helped get my dressing gown and jacket on, then when I was too hot, she helped get them off, and when I was cold, she helped again. Nothing was too much trouble; she was amazing. I will never forget her.

She is the only part of my experience I am grateful for. Sadly, my baby is 15 weeks old now, and the trauma of my birth has left me with my hair falling out and leaving huge, bald spots, so I'm now missing out on pictures with my baby as I look so bad. I honestly think that if it weren't for my midwife, I don't know if my baby would have made it; she seemed to be the only one listening to me. I will be forever grateful to her.