A Midwife a day keeps the doctor away!

Ciarabear

SanFran07 wrote: »

Unfortunately getting continuity of care in Irish maternity services is only available to those who can afford to pay for it.

Which is a financial fallacy really considering it would be much more prudent for the public purse to pay for midwife-led care as opposed to an unnecessary emphasis on obstetricians

Ms2011

I was with midwife led care & I can't praise it enough, I absolutely loved it.
I found the whole experience friendly & relaxing. Even the midwives clinic was just a normal terraced house with the 'office' in the living room, baby massage & yoga upstairs in the bedrooms & the waiting room was the kitchen where you boiled the kettle for a cuppa & chatted with other women waiting to go in (usually never more than 2) while you waited.
I always saw the same 2 midwives who were lovely & so supportive, I never felt rushed but was usually in & out in 10-15 mins.
After I went 7 days over my midwife made an appointment for me to see a consultant in the maternity hospital which is routine.
That experience was like night & day from the relaxed appointments I was used to. I queued for 4 hours in a noisey, hot waiting area to be seen for 5mins. The consultant was nice enough but v.rushed. She recommended an induction & really it all went downhill from there as I ended up with a section.
This was just my experience of course, others may have different.
I can now never avail of midwife led care due to me having a section & I'm absolutely dreading the thoughts of consultant led care on subsequent pregnancies

SanFran07

Ms2011 wrote: »

I was with midwife led care & I can't praise it enough, I absolutely loved it.
I found the whole experience friendly & relaxing. Even the midwives clinic was just a normal terraced house with the 'office' in the living room, baby massage & yoga upstairs in the bedrooms & the waiting room was the kitchen where you boiled the kettle for a cuppa & chatted with other women waiting to go in (usually never more than 2) while you waited.
I always saw the same 2 midwives who were lovely & so supportive, I never felt rushed but was usually in & out in 10-15 mins.
After I went 7 days over my midwife made an appointment for me to see a consultant in the maternity hospital which is routine.
That experience was like night & day from the relaxed appointments I was used to. I queued for 4 hours in a noisey, hot waiting area to be seen for 5mins. The consultant was nice enough but v.rushed. She recommended an induction & really it all went downhill from there as I ended up with a section.
This was just my experience of course, others may have different.
I can now never avail of midwife led care due to me having a section & I'm absolutely dreading the thoughts of consultant led care on subsequent pregnancies

That's how every mum's antenatal care should be.

Although you've had a previous section your antenatal care is no different whether you attend the obstetric team or midwifery team. Some mums in the Coombe have been able to go to the midwives clinic (with some discussion with the obs team) and negotiated going with the midwives. Is that an option in the hospital you're attending? Or connect with a midwife in your community who will do your antenatal care in collaboration with your hospital. So you'll still book in to the hospital and have your bloods/scans done but your care will be with your midwife.

Merrilady

Some fantastic points raised and great opinions, especially for me.
I am 20 weeks on a v high risk pregnancy, 6 IVF attempts to get this far.

Personally, I don't have enough experience to have an opinion either way as I believe there are valid points in both arguments.
In my own case I will be doing a Hypno and Active Birthing course and will do my best on the day, am adamant I don't have an episiotomy or induction, but will probably have to have a section.

Ms2011

SanFran07 wrote: »

That's how every mum's antenatal care should be.

Although you've had a previous section your antenatal care is no different whether you attend the obstetric team or midwifery team. Some mums in the Coombe have been able to go to the midwives clinic (with some discussion with the obs team) and negotiated going with the midwives. Is that an option in the hospital you're attending? Or connect with a midwife in your community who will do your antenatal care in collaboration with your hospital. So you'll still book in to the hospital and have your bloods/scans done but your care will be with your midwife.

I would be attending the Coombe as that's where I had my son.
I will definately be pushing for midwife led care if I can get it but their policies are so strict I don't know if I'd qualify next time round.
Guess I'm just psyching myself up to be told no so that if by some miricle they say yes I'll be pleasantly suprised ;-)

January

SanFran07 wrote: »

That's how every mum's antenatal care should be.

Although you've had a previous section your antenatal care is no different whether you attend the obstetric team or midwifery team. Some mums in the Coombe have been able to go to the midwives clinic (with some discussion with the obs team) and negotiated going with the midwives. Is that an option in the hospital you're attending? Or connect with a midwife in your community who will do your antenatal care in collaboration with your hospital. So you'll still book in to the hospital and have your bloods/scans done but your care will be with your midwife.

How much of an option is this for someone who has successfully had two VBAC's after the first being a c section? How hard would I have to fight? I'm not in a catchment area so an aerial clinic is not an option for me but even attending the midwives clinic in the hospital would be great. I'm not adverse to consultant led care, loved my consultant on my second pregnancy and hoping to have him again for this one if I can't go midwife led.

SanFran07

Having had 2 VBACs you'd have a great argument for going to the midwives clinic. A few mums I know who've had a previous csection and planning VBAC were able to successfully negotiate this option. You can just agree that if there are any problems at all during your pregnancy you will of course move back to consultant led care. It's a very reasonable discussion to have.

Ms2011

I've joined a VBAC group on Facebook & it seems there is an increasing number of women allowed to choose midwife led care after having a section once they are signed off by a consultant.
Gives me hope for any future pregnancies ;-)

csm

Just saw this on the front page. My wife just had a baby in Australia and had midwife-led care. It was fantastic but in no way was it 'natural' or somehow not backed by medical science. In fact it was extremely scientific with excellent literature that made scientific studies accessible to the public, see this website:
http://www.havingababy.org.au/

As a first time parent I have no way of comparing to obstetrician led care but I certainly would not change our approach next time.

EDIT: oh and she had an emergency caesar in the end. Midwives confirmed we can go VBAC next time no problem