Hi, I've set this up for our friend Cat,

The negligence she has been through is unbelievable. Please read her story for details...

I left my 3 kids at home with my mother and came to hospital on the 25th September hoping to have a quick and straightforward induction with my 4th baby at 41+3 days pregnant. I have had an induction before in the UK and it went very soothly using only gas and air as pain relief. I had a plan written out and translated into Portuguese that I had already gone over with a doctor when I was "booked in" on the 19th.

Nothing went to plan, and what ensued was what I can only describe as 3 days of torture. I can go into more detail if anyone needs but I'd rather not right now. Needless to say I ended up having an "emergency" c-section, my partner didn't get to witness the birth of his first (and only) child or cut the cord and what followed after meant I didn't get to hold my daughter until she was 5, then 10, days old.

My daughter suffered some injuries from the birth (that were not initially communicated to me or my partner) and was taken to a different hospital at 1 day old. I was transferred with her but was discharged 2 days later while she remained in the NICU. As I said previously, I was finally allowed to hold her at 5 days, after which I went straight to Urgencias myself because I had extreme pain in my lower abdomen. In Urgencias they changed the dressing on my c-section scar and told me it was infected, gave me some IV antibiotics and told me to come back in 2 days. That night was horrific with high fever, shaking etc and the next day I went straight back to urgencias after waking up swimming in pus (sorry for TMI).

I spent the entire day in the Urgencias in Lisbon before being transfered back to my original hospital due to lack of space in the early hours of the 5th October. My partner stayed in Lisbon with our baby for another 5 days until she was transfered back to join me. During this time I had been trying to breastfeed/pump but it was a lost cause... I was becoming more and more distressed and producing less and less.

I was initially treated with 3 different IV antibiotics and also had a negative pressure vaccum pump fitted, that had a sponge inserted into my scar. Test results came back as having a nasty bacterial infection. Eventually, we were both discharged on the 15th October, but I would have to return to hospital twice per week for dressing and sponge changes.

I did as instructed, plus I was still on oral antibiotics at that point. However on the 29th of October I expressed concern to the nurses that the pain and smell as coming back and that I wanted to speak to a doctor. No doctor was available, but they told me they would "chase up a consultation for me" since I hadn't had a check up with a doctor since my cesarian on the 27th September. They then decided to leave my dressing on for a work due to public holidays.

When I returned on the 7th November I was in agony and I demanded to speak to a doctor. Within 2 hours I was back on the operating table. They opened up my wound, cleaned everything out and sewed me up again. Of course I needed more antibiotics and another swab was sent away for testing. I stayed for 5 days (without my baby and without visits because my partner had to go back to work by this time). I was told the swab test came back for a different antibiptic resisitant bacterial infection, but I had been on the correct antibiotics for it. I was told to take another 7 days of oral antibiotics at home.

Exactly a week later I was back for one of my routine dressing changes, infected again. There was no space to admit me at that point so they told me to come back the next day. I went in on the 19th November and by the 22nd had already had 6 doses of 2 different iv antibiotics with no improvement (infact i felt worse and was havjng to as for SOS painmeds regularly, which i NEVER do), with little to no communication about what was happening or what the plan was for me, despite me asking on several occasions. Eventually I got a nurse who listened and got blood tests and a swab test ordered and got my dressings changed. After being here for a week, on a superstrength iv antibiotic that is burning my veins, I discovered it was for the previous infection, not the one I have now. So today I have been put in an isolation room and started on YET ANOTHER IV antibiotic for at least another week.

All this time I have been separated from my newborn baby and my 3 other kids. My partner is doing his best to juggle his job with caring for the little one and also help my mum, my mum is exhausted from having my other 3 full time (she also doesn't have transport), and I'm grateful to be alive but really fighting the depression and loneliness at the separation and anger that this could all have been avoided/so different. So many what ifs running through my head.

I don't know when or even if I will get better. Not only do I need to get rid of these infections, I then need to recover from the very traumatic birth physically and mentally, and recover from all the treatment I have had since then. My guts are in pieces (I forgot to mention I couldn't go #2 for 10 days post c-section, despite the hospital filling me with laxatives and even enemas - in the end eating an entire papaya did the trick), my skin is dry and flaky, my veins are ruined.... it's going to take ss long time to recover from all of this.

A bit about my baby girl. Despite her very rough start she's doing well. She has an ongoing kidney injury that the docs are keeping and eye on but are please with the progress and we will need a follow up with neurology at 6 months. But other than that she is thriving... thank God ❤️