Five years ago today, I woke up at just before 7am, needing to pee. As you do when you're 31 weeks pregnant. I was in a good mood; I was staying in London on my last research trip for a while and I looked forward to a nice last day. In a minute I would be terrified.

When I got out of bed, blood poured down my legs. I remember running into the bathroom & pulling down my pants as if to check, yes, that definitely came from where I thought. I tried to ring my husband in Birmingham, but the phone went to voicemail. I ran out into the hall...

of my cheap hotel, wearing a now far-too-short decade-old nightie, and asked the startled man on reception to call 999. Luckily I was very close by a major hospital. An ambulance arrived in *three minutes*. Not long after I was on a specialist maternity A&E ward.

I had absolutely brilliant care that day and the next from midwives, nurses and paramedics, 90% of whom were not British by birth. In particular I remember the male midwife (the 1st I'd ever met!) who held my hand when a busy consultant gave me a very rough...

internal examination that made me cry. That midwife stayed at least 1hr past the end of his very long shift to make sure I had a bed.

Even then, 5 years ago, it was clear the NHS was under huge strain. The emergency stuff was done very fast. When the scariest...

reasons were ruled out, and kid and I showed normal vitals, it then took *24* hours for me to see another consultant.

I'm not sure what this thread is for except to say that our NHS has been limping painfully on for years now under worse and worse conditions & yet...

so many people are in it are still doing brilliant jobs. How much better at their jobs would they be if they actually had proper staffing, resources, time? How much better off would their patients be? Imagine.