Birthing Centres, it's not all fun & games

[IamHero]

I have 3 children, 4, 2 & 9 months. My first two were born in a hospital So for bub number 3 thinking I was a experienced mum in the in & outs of having a baby that this time I would use a birth centre. It turned out to be the biggest mistake I ever made. I am not writing this to put everyone off Birth Centre. I am trying to show people the other side of them & that you really must take a lot of time & think long & hard before deciding on one. The one I use was at the king Edward. I visited it , loved the homely feel & relaxed atmosphere. When I started labour I head in, Firstly there was no one there from my midwife team she was off sick. So another midwife from the other team stepped in. I have to say from the word go. She was one of the coldest, heartless people I have ever meet. I was on my own as my Husband was minding our other two as we had no family here to help. As labour progresses thing got worse My widwife sat in a corner offering no words of encouagement, no support at all. My labour was hard. Eventually when was daughter was born I was left with a fourth degree tears, horrible memories of the birth & had to be seperated from my daughter for the first 4 hours while I went to theatre. It was the most horrible experience of my life, Luckily we were treated excellently in King Edward So all was not lost.
I would ask anyone who is thinking of attending a birth centre to consider the follow.
1. What ever midwife is there you get, if you don't get along you can't ask for someone else.
2. When you in the full of labour the relaxed atmosphere is not always the best. Sometimes the hands on midwife is just what you need.
3. There is some extra comfort in knowing you are in Hospital.
4. I found the birth centre stressful & I think it prolonged my labour & birth.
5. Hospital procedures can save pain & unnecessary injury ( ie Episiotemies )

[Funkychicken]

Oh Anna, how awful for you. My own birthing centre experiences were wonderful so it's sad that you had such a terrible time. Well done for talking about it-talking out loud (even typing out loud to all bubhubbers) is sometimes the best kind of therapy following traumatic events. Maybe for some closure you need to put in writing how you feel about the centre, explaining the situation, and mail it to them. Maybe this particular midwife needs to be made aware of how she made you feel. Hugs to you and I hope you are able to get past this in time.

[cosmic]

Anna, how horrible for you! :eek: To be there on your own would be bad enough, but to not get any support from the midwife is just awful... no matter how many children you've had before or how familiar you are with the process!

I am booked in to have my baby in a birth centre and also having all my care with them (there aren't separate teams) so the idea is that by the time you go to give birth, you have pretty much met all the midwives at your appointments. Not quite the same as having one trusted carer, but so far they've all been lovely.

It is good to post your story so people can be aware of things that they need to be careful of or to ask about when making their decisions.

[Jenko]

I'm sorry you had such an awful experience at the birth centre. I can't believe she just sat there. :confused: You poor thing.

I spent 4 hours labouring in the birth centre, there was one midwife on duty and three mums giving birth. I only saw the midwife a couple of times for a few minutes each time. Luckily i had my partner and my mum there, from memory my ante-natal classes prepared us for the fact that the birth centre was different to the delivery suite where as your support person/s were expected to take a very active role. Still, i thought i'd see her a bit more than that. I had met most of the midwife team, but the one on duty i hadn't met, she was lovely, just too busy. Forgot to get me the gas and all.......hahaha

In the end, the midwife delivered the other 2 bubs and then came and told me her shift was supposed to finish hours ago and the birth centre was closing. :confused: So, i had to waddle down the hall to the delivery suite where bubs was born about an hour later. It wasn't how i really expected my birth plan to go, but we were fine in the end, and that's what matters most to me.

If you can find it in yourself, try and write a letter to the birth centre or hospital, expressing your dissapointment in the treatment you recieved. They need feedback so these things can be fixed for future mums.

[cosmic]

It sounds like hospitals are using birthing centres as a way of cutting staff costs or something. :confused: Birth centres used to be free-standing as I understand it, and now that they are incorporated into hospitals, they are unfortunately much more governed by hospital policies than they used to be. Obviously their philosophy is minimal intervention and that's what you expect when you go there, but no assistance at all is a bit much, and Jennasmum - I've said it before - I'm appalled that you had to go down the hall to the labour ward. :eek: That birth centre should shut its doors or get more staff!

[Jenko]

, and Jennasmum - I've said it before - I'm appalled that you had to go down the hall to the labour ward. :eek: That birth centre should shut its doors or get more staff!

Totally agree Cosmic, it was the birth centre at Royal Womens Hospital Randwick in Sydney. A pretty major hospital. They did warn us all through the pregnancy that they were short staffed and that we may not actually be able to go there at all. So, it wasn't a total shock, but i didn't realise i'd have to leave once i was there!

I have friends who gave birth there and thought it was fantastic, so i was obviously just unlucky.:rolleyes:

[reAllytee]

Im sorry to hear you had such a bad time thankyou for sharing your story especially when i can expose raw wounds.
I guess sometimes we dont always get what we want when it comes to our labour experiences & its good to hear all sides of the story.
I really hope things get better for you & you continue to heal.
Welcome to bubhub i hope you find this place as great as the rest of us :)

[pickles]

I am sorry to hear that your experience was not as you planned. I had my first baby at KEMH birth centre and the second in the main hospital ( induction as overdue). i found both times the midwives were excellent and the care fantastic. When you plan to birth without pain relief / intervention i think that it is really important to surround yourself with people that know you. Although your partner could not be there you may have benefited from a "doula ". it is very difficult to build up a relationship with a stranger you have just met especially when in labour. It does however sound like she did not offer the support that you really needed on the day. I hope that you have the opportunity to write a letter to the hospital so that you can debrief the situation.
Good luck
pickles

[Harry&Max's Mummy]

I too had a very similar problem to you Jennasmun, I had my first at Royal Womens at Randwick with a very textbook delivery so i decided to give the birth centre a go. We went back to randwick birth centre Max arrived on New Years Day, We got to the birth centre at 11pm come 12pm my midwife (whom i had never met b4 told us she was going to watch the fireworks and would be back soon??? to cut a long and painful story short 6.5 hrs of pushing for nothing my mother and husband demanded to see a doctor as i had no encouragement and i couldnt handle much more etc from her several internals etc i too had to to the waddle down the hall to meet the other midwives and the head surgeon with open arms as we didnt know he was postierior and his head was jammed in my pelvis so i had an emergency ceasar.I just think if my husband and mum didnt ask the question i would of been in pain for ages. The rest of our experience was A1 like last time nothing could be faulted

[jarrahsmumma]

It is never nice to have bad experiences, ((hugs)) to you guys. BUT bad things happen in all situations - hospitals, home births, birth centres.

[Jenko]

Harry&Max's Mummy - It is lucky that your mum and DH asked questions. I think sometimes we think that the midwives know exactly whats going on, but every birth is so different it's obviously a difficult job. I guess sometimes we think that with the technology available things can rarely go wrong....but things do.

I'm glad to hear everything worked out well for you and bubs.

nel09 - you're right, bad things can happen in all situations. Environment can't make a difference if bubs is having troubles.

[Rhys'Mum]

[QUOTE=SalOO8]Maybe for some closure you need to put in writing how you feel about the centre, explaining the situation, and mail it to them. Maybe this particular midwife needs to be made aware of how she made you feel. [QUOTE] (Sorry st**ffed up the quote somehow.)

While every situation is different I can understand so much the effect a negative or non-helpful midwife can have and the trauma and anger it invariably causes (whether you ever admit it to anyone or not). I think it is great of you to tell others, for your own sake and because I think it is so much worse to have your illusions shattered when you are in such a vulnerable place than to recognise beforehand that there is always a risk things won't be fabulous.

Writing it down was really helpful for me. At my obstetrician's request I wrote about my birth experience, including how I felt at the time, what I would have liked to be different, how I felt now and I ended up with an 8 page emotion laden document that took many tears to write but that left me feeling so much lighter by the time I finished. I gave it to the head of the maternity section some months later. I actually had a debrief session with her and handed over the document at the end and told her that I didn't really care if she read it but that I was sick of all the pain and anger and that it was her baggage now. It was a great symbolic gesture for me that actually felt surprisingly good. Yes I'm still angry, I still feel upset when I think about it I probably always will but it is getting better and for me telling it in writing and making sure someone at the hospital knew was a hugely liberating step. AND I'm told the hospital actually changed some of its policy as a result.

You may not need it but if you do telling your story, particularly to those who have some control and should know better, can give you a lot of closure.

[Sharai]

I am so sorry to hear about your experience with Birthing Centre. I hope to have a Doula with me as well as DH so I will not be left alone.

[QTB]

Geez this is a realllly old thread!

but anyway, i dont believe that the problem the OP had was the birth centre, i believe it was the midwife... i had a FANTASTIC birthing centre birth last time, with a fantastic midwife.... it didnt hinder my birth experiance at all!

[stellarella]

As QTB this is an old thread but may as well put my 2 bobs in....

Just because a BC is labelled as such doesnt mean it runs on BC philosophies. This one sounds like a normal labour ward 'dressed up' as a BC.

Just because a midwife is working in a BC doesnt mean she is a skilled or sensitive one. There are good and bad midwives everywhere. Its important to take charge of your own birth and this starts when you choose your CPs.

I gave birth in a great BC which was midwife led and there was an emphasis on continuity of care so it wasnt a case of go into labour and have whoever was on duty. I had my midwifes mobile number, she was there for me to call 24/7.

Im sorry you had such a rotten time. With a better CP and more support you may have avoided your trauma. Im so sorry for you. :hugs:

[0BleSseD0]

I dont know which midwife you had, but I was on the yellow team and had Jenny at my birth.

It was a wonderful birth experience.

I say go back and talk to the midwife that you didnt like.

Also, you are instructed to call first, because there isnt always someone there. Then they can be sure that there is someone from your team there for you when you arrive.

Oh it is an old thread. Jenny may not have been there then.

i hope you sorted out your experience, and have conversed with the midwife about your experience.

[lilpearl]

What a terrible experience. You should contact the head of the hospital and put in a formal complaint about that one. Why a person like that would choose to become a midwife (and then seek employment in a birth centre) is beyond me.

[mixy]

Hi ladies, well that is not how i would expect a birht centre to operate! i was booked in to the birht centre at the royal in Brisbane, at 29 wks i was advised my midwife was 'exiting' the pregram but that they would definatly find me another one, at 31 weeks they rung me and told me that they couldnt get any one else and that i would need to go into the normal system. I was so disapointed, frm then on i had depression that i had trouble shaking untill after the birth.

[TwoBoysOnly]

Hi ladies, well that is not how i would expect a birht centre to operate! i was booked in to the birht centre at the royal in Brisbane, at 29 wks i was advised my midwife was 'exiting' the pregram but that they would definatly find me another one, at 31 weeks they rung me and told me that they couldnt get any one else and that i would need to go into the normal system. I was so disapointed, frm then on i had depression that i had trouble shaking untill after the birth.

Sorry to hear of your experience with the RBWH birth centre ..... but in their defense there has been a lot of things happening in that department....several staff members have been really unwell and all the other staff were trying to pick up their load but working till they burnt out so they had to drop a fair few clients from the birth centre and unfortunately you were one of them.... :hugs: