"Broome Maternity Ward"

Hi, I wanted to give feedback in regards to my stay I had in the maternity ward of Broome Hospital recently.

Firstly I'd like to note I had fantastic care from the MGP (Maternity Group Practice) midwives, surgical team and ward midwives, in particular the night shift staff who were fantastic and prompt.

However it's not the first child I've had at Broome Hospital, so I've had plenty of experience with the maternity ward and the same issue unfortunately arises with each visit. It's the issue of the room size to bed ratios. There are rooms with two beds which clearly should never have two beds in there as it just doesn't work from both a patient and staff perspective. I couldn't even fit my husband beside me whilst sharing with another patient as there wasn't the room for a chair (it was in line with dividing curtain)! I feel for the staff who have to work in the tight spaces with such an important and delicate job to do, especially considering there are only two delivery suites which means labouring women spill out into ward beds which isn't nice for anyone involved.

I understand it's a public hospital so no one should expect single bed rooms but in 2017 in a town like Broome, who services pregnant women from a large radius - as well as being a town that has a high number of births yearly for its population size - I think one could expect that multiple-bed rooms actually have the space for those beds allocated.

To support my opinion I'll add that my relative who works in a Victorian regional hospital noted that the size of Broome's maternity two-bed rooms are the size of Victoria's single-bed rooms so I do feel justified in my opinion even more so after hearing that.

In summary the staff are fantastic but this hospital and town deserves the maternity ward to be upgraded. The ED upgrade has been greatly appreciated by all and I know the maternity section would also be appreciated as its used by so many. Thank you for your time. From a mother who left after a short number of days (not ideal) as I couldn't handle not having space for my family to visit and help me post surgery.