Being a maternity consumer

After describing my experience of feeling like a student again in my previous post I have recently found myself on the receiving end of maternity care. My grandson was born a few weeks ago and I had the priviledge of being present for his labour and birth. While not everything went to plan, the experience was positive yet exhausting, nerve racking yet exhilerating, weird yet also surreal. Weird from the perspective that I was watching my child have his own child, exhilerating because I  felt the same surge of love that I felt when having my own children and exhausting because there is so much emotional energy required for the mum to birth her beautiful baby and the support people to really be there to support her.
It has done me the world of good to be on the other side of maternity care and has reminded me how important it is for midwives and doctors to never underestimate the power of listening to the women and her support people and making them feel safe to express their concerns. How easy it is to think we know better but how vulnerable you feel when you are the consumer. Even with the knowledge of my profession & my own experiences, I still felt vulnerable. This surprised me and I was a little taken aback by my own vulnerability. Funny how that emotional tie adds another dimension.
Thankfully though we received respectful, collaborative care from maternity health professionals that made us feel safe and listened to and for that I am eternally grateful - thank you Redcliffe Maternity Unit and thank you to the staff, you were amazing and I feel priviledged to work with you.

What were your experiences? Have you felt vulnerable as a consumer and what would you like to see health professionals do to help reduce some of this vulnerability?