I’m currently sat in the hospital with my October babe - she’s on her second viral induced wheeze since July and they’re looking into asthma also (I had childhood asthma so this doesn’t come as a surprise).

But just sitting reflecting, I’m so grateful for the health service we have access to and the fact that we could just turn at the hospital and help is there without the worries of insurances or fees. I’m in the UK with access to the NHS and whilst things aren’t great at the moment and there are issues due to Covid I’m so grateful we have this because I know there are some countries where accessing healthcare isn’t an autonomous thing it’s a decision based on other factors. It got me wondering how things work for some of you ladies, is the prospect of going into hospital more worry than just little ones health alone?

I’ve been so frustrated listening to other moms in this ward complaining on the phone to people that they had to wait 3 hours or they were put in a shared room etc. We’re the only ones left in our ward now and the nurse has just told me they’ve had to CLOSE the department due to staff shortages and redirect to other hospitals. This just blew my mind and opened my eyes up to some of the struggles not only going on here but elsewhere in the world too. Whilst we were sat waiting to be seen when we first came in we were not far from a critical care room and we could hear a lady hysterical because something bad was clearly happening with her baby. I’m glad my daughter was asleep on my lap because I couldn’t stop the tears. The lady sat next to me then started to complain to me 10 mins later that she was bored of waiting! I just replied “we may have a long wait, but I’m thankful we will be seen at all and don’t have to experience whatever that lady has just gone through” - she didn’t answer.

Bit of a rant/vent if anything and open to a bit of perspective on other people’s experiences whilst I’m sitting here a lot. I’m grateful my daughter is still quite healthy all things considered, she’s not dangerously unwell but is occasionally in need of help with oxygen steroids etc the drs and nurses are amazing and I just don’t know how they do it!!