Building work 'upset' woman in labour at Jersey hospital

The government responded to complaints and said noise levels were being monitored and were within acceptable levels

A first-time mother said her experience of labour was "extremely upsetting" due to building work taking place at a maternity ward.

The woman, who gave birth in Jersey in October, said a builder was only "a metre away" when she was half-dressed and experiencing strong contractions.

Work began on refurbishing Jersey General Hospital in August 2021 to improve outdated maternity facilities.

Jersey's government apologised and said this was "not a typical experience".

Speaking to the BBC, the mother said her experience of the maternity ward was overwhelmingly negative.

She said: "I was taken to a labour room where only a couple of metres away they were knocking down walls, I was in quite a bit of pain and had a headache from all the constant banging and drilling."

The mother, whom the BBC has decided not to name, asked if she could be taken somewhere quieter, but was told she would not be able to have pain relief anywhere but the labour ward.

She said the work was so disturbing she tried to leave the hospital mid-labour.

She said: "I had to lock myself in the toilet to get any kind of peace, in the end I said I was leaving by which point my contractions were only a few minutes apart.

"The noise was making my contractions worse from being tense which is not the way you want to experience having your first baby."

• Ear defenders for babies during building work

• Work begins on refurbishment of maternity unit

• Maternity facilities 'inadequate and unacceptable'

The mother said she sat on the stairs and cried due to the stress of the situation she was in.

Describing the situation later in the day in a corridor on the maternity ward, she said: "There was a builder stood no further than a metre away from me whilst I was half dressed and having strong contractions and the building work was still going on.

"When you have a baby it should be in a safe and peaceful environment, not stressed out to the point you want to go home even though you're in maximum pain."

The mother said the builders were sent home early and later she gave birth to a healthy baby boy at the hospital.

This month, the Government of Jersey introduced ear defenders for newborns

The hospital has made ear defenders available on the maternity ward to protect newborn babies.

A spokesperson from the health and community department of the Government of Jersey said: "Work is underway to transform the maternity unit, which we know can be disruptive, and we apologise for any disturbance or upset caused to the women who use our unit.

"We are saddened to hear that this mum has not had the maternity experience that she was expecting and we apologise for the amount of stress the ongoing refurbishment works added to her labour.

"We would stress that this experience is not a typical experience of maternity and urge anyone who has had any problems or negative experiences to please get in touch with us in maternity, and we will do all we can to help."

Follow BBC Jersey on Twitter and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]