Please help if you have had your baby at the RPA birth centre sydney

[belle]

Hello,

I am now 6 1/2 weeks pregnant with our first baby. I have been looking into options for the birth. I am currently considering going to the birth centre at RPA in sydney and would love to hear from anyone who has had their baby there. Also i would love some advise about whether it is worth having an obs dr to deliever the baby or if i should go public.

Thanks

[raffee]

I had my bub at RPAH as a public patient, but not in the birthing suite. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the high-tech facilities my criticism was that it was like a conveyer belt, lacking in the personal touch. I was left to my own devices pretty much most of my stay there, and because I had other experiences to measure it against (I've had three other children at St George Hospital) I found it quite disappointng.

The reason I didnt go for the birthing suite is because I did with my first and ended up needng to be transferred to the delivery ward (due to complications), so I've since felt 'safer' and more reassured being in a fully-equipped delivery room. That doesn't mean birthing suites are bad, it just means it wasnt for me...

Anyways, good luck with whatever you choose...:fingerscrossed:

[DjF]

Hi raffee - i notice you said you had prev babies at St George Hospital - Public or St George private? I ask because id like to know what St George Hosp (not the private one!) is like and have been trying to get peoples opinions on the place - we live close so if they are good - thats were we will go.
D

[Cupcake]

Hi
My Auntie is the Head Midwife there(she has been on RPA on TV a couple of times) She mainly cares for and Transports the very premie babies!!
She loves it there & she is fantastic :p
Good luck, I am sure someone that has been there can offer you more advice:fingerscrossed:

[cosmic]

Belle, I can't comment about the birth because I haven't had the baby yet, but I am booked into the RPAH Birth Centre and am having all my care with the middies there. I was going to have a private Ob deliver my baby because we have private cover but in the end I decided it just wasn't worth it to pay the extra when midwives are perfectly well qualified to provide all my care and I wanted to get to know them before going in to have the baby.

So far, I have found them all to be wonderful! Appointments run on time, some of the middies already know me by name and they always have time to answer whatever questions I have. They are also very open to whatever I want in labour and birth which I find really reassuring.

I have known 3 people who have booked in there. One went into her 43rd week and needed to be induced (so had to go to the labour ward), another failed to progress and ended up with a c-section and the third delivered naturally. All 3 had only good things to say about the Birth Centre and staff despite their differing experiences and outcomes.

I hope that helps. :)

[raffee]

Hi raffee - i notice you said you had prev babies at St George Hospital - Public or St George private? I ask because id like to know what St George Hosp (not the private one!) is like and have been trying to get peoples opinions on the place - we live close so if they are good - thats were we will go.
D


It was awesome all three times. I only have good memories of my experiences there (my first being in 97, 2nd in 99 and 3rd in 00). Empathetic, friendly, compassionate, professional. Sums it up perfectly!;)

Oh and I was a public patient in the public hospital...

[DjF]

Oh i like it when somebody has a good thing to say, so reassuring. I have not visited there - i figure its a bit premature - got to fall first!!
D:D

[pinkandblue]

Hi

I didnt have my babies in the birth centre, I had them in the labour ward (DD in 2003 and DS in 2005) as a public patient and was very happy with the care that I received. I went through the midwives clinic and they were fantastic. Also my DS was in the special care nursery and I only have good things to say about them aswell. So overall I was pretty happy with RPA.

Natalie

[belle]

Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences :)

It helps to hear that a lot of people have had good experiences as a public patient. My husband really wants us to go public, but i was afraid that i was some how disadvantaging our baby by not paying to go private. I feel more confident now that we can go public and still be doing the best we can for our baby.

[zaccywoo]

Hi, I am new here so just reading through some threads quickly. I gave birth to my second DS at the RPA Birth Clinic. I found that the clinic appointments were always on time, I did hear bad things about having to wait for very lengthy times in the labour ward though.

I chose the birth centre as I had already had 1 quick labour at the Hornsby Hospital and absolutely hated the drugs they gave me and the effect they had on my baby. Their care was also quite disgusting and I found myself in tears because of the way I was treated there.

Anyway, back to the birth centre. You need to be well aware especially if it is your first baby that they won't give you pain relief, not even the injection you get to help you deliver the placenta after giving birth. In saying that, my labour only lasted 1 hour and after pushing for 20 minutes I gave birth to my hefty 9 and a half pound son in the bath. It was very natural, the midwife never left my side the whole time and was very supportive.

Afterwards was a bit of a different story but. I tore due to Blair being a big bub and in a big hurry to get out and due to this I had to lie down until I was stitched. After I gave birth, my midwife went to have lunch and forgot about me. 3 hours after I gave birth, she came back to stitch me. I was given nothing to eat (Blair was born at 12.30pm) and wasn't taken up to the ward until 7pm. By this time I was starving and had to rely on hubby bringing me something to eat from McDonalds.

Hope this helps, Melissa

[samma]

my midwife care before the birth was excellent. very little waiting and all midwives great. the actual birth in the birth centre I was very disappointed with. the midwife hardly came near me and was very little help. she really didnt beleive what I was saying was happening and after telling me i had hours to go she finally checked me (after I begged her) and had to say quick get on the bed your baby is coming and 2 pushes later my daughter was born. Severe PPH soon followed. The whole experience was very dissappointing.