Planning where to give birth?

[rainbow]

Hi! I'm new to thinking about babies. Has anyone done the reasearch on where the best types of places are to give birth? Public / Private / Birthing Centre... what are the pros and cons? What are some good ones and some bad ones? How early do you need to book? What is involved? Thank you so much for your help.

[xkwzit]

Hi Rainbow
I can't really comment on different types of places to give birth - I did the normal private hospital path (no choice, as that's where my OB delivered).

What I will say is get booked in early. It sounds ridiculous I know, but with DD1, we waited until our first OB visit and was asked straight away if we'd booked into the hospital (which we hadn't, as we didn't even have a confirmed EDD). When I did book later that day (at 9 WEEKS pg), I was told I didn't have a booking, I was on the WAITING LIST :o . Fortunately, we got in...dunno what would have happened otherwise with OB only delivering at the one place. With DD2 we booked in as soon as we had a positive pregnancy test, 3 weeks before I went to see the OB.

While my experience is relevant to one Brisbane private hospital, I know that you might also have trouble if you want to get into the more popular birthing centres.

Cheers

[Rell]

Hi Rainbow
I had both my babies in public hospitals one in NSW and one in QLD. Both times I went to my GP first who then gives you the info on the hospitals nearest you. I also did a thing called share care in NSW and QLD where you go to your GP for most of your visits and the hospital a few times. I found this great because my GP had much more conveniant hours and less waiting. Through the public system everything is covered ultrasound, hospital, bloodtests but you don't get to choose the doctor. Both times I received excelent care. With my second child I was in and out of hospital with severe morning sickness and then put on medication usualy costing $80 a tablet all this was covered.
This is my experiance only but I would recomend the NSW and QLD public hospitals. Good luck in your decisions I hope what ever path you choose your experiance is great. :)

[mamafelix]

I think it really depends on the outcomes you want, and where you live.

From what I've read/researched, many private hospitals are great if you want a managed labour or elective c/s, but may be less good if you want a natural birth (this is a BIG generalisation, based on the stats from 'some' private hostipals/OB's with c/s rates of up to 80%). In a private hospital you will get to stay for longer, if that's what you want. You will know your Ob, if they are at your delivery (not sure what the likelihood or not of this is). I personally would do very careful research before choosing a private hosiptal, but I am a homebirther so obviously on the 'natural' side of the spectrum.

Public hospitals are much bigger obviously, and I think the quality of care will depend on where you live. Some (like my local) are really great, others are not so. You probably won't know the people you birth with, and you will only stay up to 3 days for a straightforward delivery.

A birth centre is usually a great option, you will get to know all the midwives on duty, and it can be a lot more 'homelike' and friendly. However, some 'birthcentres' are not all that different from normal delivery wards (apart from the decor) in terms of outcomes, and the 'rules' I would recommend research here- ask the centre what they allow in terms of length of labour before transfer, whether you can birth in a pool etc. If you do want pain relief options but don't like the idea of a normal hospital environment, they might be the choice for you. Book early! there are limited places available usually.

The final option is hiring an independant midwife, either for a homebirth or to accompany you a hospital/birth centre. If you live in WA you can get this for free, otherwise it will cost between $2000-4000. This includes all your antenatal appointments and care, as well as delivery and post natal visits. If you REALLY want a natural birth you might consider this. Interventions are at their lowest with this care.

[Rell]

Sorry to disagree with you but I stayed 5 days in hospital with my first which was a normal straight forward birth

[maxyboy]

I agree with Zoe,

Birth Centres are fabulous places to birth, although I'm aware that Zoe had homebirths, which I'm looking into for the next one!

Birth Centres are very warm and inviting, mine was anyway and it's true, you do build a wonderful rapport with all the midwives as they were the women I saw for my checkups, (I didn't have an OB or doctor.) Share care is also a great way to go, it's a lot more convenient than having to wait in the huge queue at the public hospitals! I'm not sure about private hospitals, but I was allowed to make my own decisions, within reason, regarding my labour. I also had great post natal care, but decided to discharge myself early, 2 days, but I read on another message that it's about 5 days care and this is true! The major women's hospitals in Sydney, RPA and RHW are fabulous and man do they know their stuff! Good luck in your decision making, hope this has been of some help! ;)

[Evo]

I went through the public hospital system (RPA, Sydney) and had a good experience on the whole. Like Rell and Maxyboy, I took the shared care path which was really good - being able to see my GP for some visits rather than queuing at the hospital was great and also I felt like I was getting two lots of opinions.

My only regret about the whole experience was that I didn't have a private room so my partner couldn't stay with me overnight while I was in hospital (though I only stayed in for 36 hours - inc 2 nights - and took advantage of the early discharge program). Having private cover in the public system wouldn't have guaranteed me a private room either but obviously this would have been different if I was in a private hospital.

[shellbell]

hi all

i'm a big fan of the public hospital system in bris. i had both my babies in the rbwh and did shared care with my gp. the midwives were awesome and helped me so much. the only drawback in a public hospital is the whole room thing, but you could get lucky. i had a double room with my second and was woken at 12.30 one night by nurses cleaning the next bed and tranferring a new patient. but its only for a few nights ...