Mercy Mothers @ Heidelberg

[Tiggerbaby]

Hi Everyone,

I am booked into the Mercy @ Heidelberg for delivery in November 2006 as was wondering what other peoples experiences have been of the hospital & staff since the move from East Melbourne last year?

Is the tour really worthwhile? I previously delivered in Sydney so i have no idea what to expect here in Melbourne and my OB suggested they might be the place for me! Love to hear your opinions good or bad.

[jembelina]

Just wanted to say "hi!". I too am booked in at The Mercy, #2 due 8/10. I have only had the one ante natal visit so far, all the staff I encountered that day were great. The midwife I saw was particularly lovely! I am yet to do the tour, but am planning on doing one soon.

[mum2paige]

Hi,

I had my daughter at the Mercy in Jan. I was with the White team of midwives, and the ante natal care and post natal care were fantastic.

The tour was useful, it's nice to see where you will be so it seems a bit familiar when you go in! The facilities are very good, I was a public patient and was in a room with one other lady, rooms were quite big.

Unfortunately I had a bad experience with the actual labour and hospital stay - it seemed like staff were not listening to me, nor telling me what was going on. Being my first baby I had no idea, but I guess it is all about the baby, not the mother.

They are also very, very pro breastfeeding, unfortunately I had a night nurse who would come in and grab my boob and grab Paige's head and shove them together, the end result being that I am bottle feeding.

I don't think I will go to the Mercy next time, but if I did I would be more forceful and ask lots of questions. That said, i'm sure it would be better with your second child as you sort of know what is happening and can ask the right questions.

Good luck to you both!!

[Tiggerbaby]

Hi
Thanks for the feedback, umm forgive my ignorance but the white team of midwives???? Did the midwives stay through your entire labour or did you have a shift change, which can be quite disconcerting if you are on the cusp of delivery???

My other question for evryone is do you think the mercy is family freindly as I will have a 3 year old coming to visit at the time of delivery?

[jembelina]

when you have your first visit, they will discuss with you what model of care you would prefer. One model is team midwife care, wherea team of 8 (I think) midwives do all your ante natal visits and at least one of those midwives will be there when you give birth and during your hospital stay. You can also call the hospital at anytime to speak to one of these midwives. I have chosen this and am with white team too provided I finally decide to go VBAC. If not I have to be under the care of doctors. Sorry, can't help you with your other question, I will be interested to hear what others have to say though.

[bigglet]

Depends whether you are a public or private patient at Mercy.
I went private and don't believe it was worth it (the only thing I got out of it was a personal OB and a private room) but I know at least 4 people who went public and seemed to have had a better time than me! (ie. parent room where the partner got to stay in the double bed (my DH couldn't partner in like other hospitals) etc) - Also the bills afterwards weren't nice whereas the public patients had no fees to pay. The Mercy Birthing Centre is supposed to be nice as well (hotel like) and that's public. I say if you go to the Mercy Hospital you may as well go public.

Also the midwives were nice - some better than others of course

Good luck and all the best! :)

[LillynJonson]

I had both my kids at The Mercy Family Birth Centre and I still rave about how good it is! The care from the midwifes was absolutely fantastic and it's such a cosy home like environment. I had the same midwife deliver both my children 2 years apart! It's public but you get your own room massive with ensuite and access to outside courtyard and partners stay with you the whole time. It's extremely family friendly, hence the name, and there's no set visiting hours so you can have visitors when YOU feel like it, not when the hospital says it's okay.

[bigglet]

Hi Traceylilly,

Just wondering how you can request for the Family Birth Centre. Do you just ring up when you are pregnant and request it or is there a waiting list?

[LillynJonson]

Hello Bigglet, I didn't have a referral, my GP had recommended another hospital that I wasn't so keen on, I just called the FBC directly through the switch board at the Mercy and went from there. I didn't have to go on a waiting list with either pregnancy, but I made sure I called pretty much as soon as I found out! It is midwife based care, and to be accepted you have to have a faily straight forward pregnancy with no history of complications. During labour if you require an epidural or medical intervention such as foreps or caesar you would need to be moved to the normal delivery ward of the hospital although you can still have gas and pethidine if you need it. It was good to know extra help was there if I needed it but luckily I found the environment and staff so reassuring and both births were fairly straight forward even though both my children have been posterior throughout labour which makes labour even more painful and difficult. I would definately reccomend to give the FBC a go but keep an open mind if you need to be transferred.:)

[bigglet]

Ahh ok thanks for that - it's good to know your options!

[HelloKitty]

Hi everyone, :wave:
its great to get your advice about the Mercy at Heidleberg. I am due in January and have my first obs appointment this Thursday. I have sig anaemia and therefore my gp suggested specialist care. The family birthing clinic seems great but i dont think i am able to use this service. As a private patient, can i request to have a double bed for my husband? Good luck jembelina and tiggerbaby with you pregnancies. Lillyn - didnt your private health insurance cover your expences with your hospital stay?

Regards,
Jo

[bigglet]

Unfortunately no :(
It is a first come first served basis and no preference to private patients over public.
A friend of mine (private patient) just gave birth at the Mercy and didn't even get a private room! She was pretty upset at this - she had a CS and wanted her DH to stay with her but he couldn't and because she was in a shared room he wasn't allowed to stay past 9pm. She was annoyed that she had to pay an excess for her stay in hospital and her stay was the same as the public system. So there isn't guarantees even if you are private. I guess in that sense I was lucky to get a private room although it was a pain for my DH to keep driving everyday to visit me - it would have been nicer if he could have stayed the whole time as I had a hard time in the hospital with my newborn and needed help.
Two of my other friends went public and managed to get the parent room with the double bed so go figure!! It's the luck of the draw I guess!:rolleyes:

[bigglet]

oh BTW my hospital excess was $100 a night - the rest was covered by my health insurance

[HelloKitty]

Oh my gosh, thats not good to hear. I really wanted a private room for me and my husband to share. i might reconsider the hospital.

[bigglet]

I would suggest if you definately wanted this option then a private hospital would be your best option. Mercy is a good hospital but no guarantees of priviledges private patient or not.
Smaller private hospitals tend to allow partners to stay overnight - I just had a tour of Mitcham private hospital and they said they have pull out beds for the partners to stay or generally people bring in their sleeping bags etc - this is if you don't get the parent rooms (the double bed rooms) but at least partner gets to stay with you! :)

[HelloKitty]

Thanks for your advice
Ive just changed to Francis Perry in Carlton,
Lucky for me they still had availability!!!
These rooms are not only private some have a spa ensuit (not sure if ill be up to that though) :laughing:

Take care

[Tiggerbaby]

Hi Everyone:wave:

Today I went in to the Hospital and did the tour, Very informative and easy. The group was shown around all the facilites by one very patient parent educator. I must say that with the hospital not being very old, the facilites appear to be state of the art and very clean and easy to get to to. The actual maternity ward is seperate to the birthing suites and the family birthing centre and visiting hours I am told are strictly enforced. Partners are allowed in at any time.

Interesting to note that averages stays for VB is 4 nights and for C-sections it is 5 nights. If you choose to leave early as a public patient then you can get in home care from the midwife team but not as a private patient. Being a private patient doesn't automatically guarantee you a private room and they are "pro" breastfeeding and "baby friendly".

So they are the main things, that I gathered there today and hope that when the time comes to push this little one out that it will be about the same as I got today, FANTASTIC :smiliedance:

Regards
Leigh

[admonsta]

I had all 3 of my babies at the Mercy, and all of them in different bits. My first was born in the Birth Centre at North Melbourne. Can't complain at all - the prenatal care was fabulous, the midwives were compassionate and caring, we had our own room for the whole time, and didn't pay a cent.

My second was early, so we couldn't use the birth centre. He was born in the regular labour ward. Once again, we were treated very well, and because I was originally going to use the Birth Centre, they tried to make it as similar as possible - no doctor intervention etc. I was in a room with other women this time, but again, we didn't pay at all.

My third was born in the Birth Centre at Heidelberg. The best of them all - our own room with balcony, same great service, very relaxed atmosphere. I can't speak highly enough of it. And totally free.

In all of the births, I chose my birthing position, received excellent midwife care, and was left alone with my husband when we wanted it. He stayed with me for the days afterwards except for the second child (not FBC). The baby was never taken from me in the FBC births. The second one had breathing trouble due to being early, so he ended up in the 'Pope-mobile' for a day.

[*alison*]

I had our daughter at the Mercy in April. I went through the public system and was assigned to the White team.

I cannot fault the service I got from the beginning to the end. :thumbsup: Probably the only thing that irritated me was the wait time when I had my regular check-ups but I’ve been told that you can experience this through private consultations as well.

We are planning another baby in a year or so and will be going to the Mercy again

[jaq]

I had my daughter at the Mercy in Heidelberg in July 05, not long after they opened there. I was a public patient, and my experience was very different to some other people.

One issue I had was with the prenatal care. I had to see a doctor every fortnight/week, rather than a midwife (no idea why, something to do with booking in at 30 weeks, maybe?) and the waits were LONG. I spent half a day in there on some occasions. Now, I knew to park in the freeparking (next to the railway station) and to bring a book, but I pitied the poor people who had other kids to keep amused, or had to go back to work or whatever.

Secondly, I'm not sure if everyone goes in via Emergency, but I did, and that's not ideal. Not the tranquil start you'd hope for, I guess. I had to wait four hours before anyone saw me. And then I was induced due to bleeding, and it was all over within four hours. NOBODY was in control, except the baby! The midwives who attended me were great, but to be honest? Hardly knew they were there, I was so high on nitrous. (The best advice I got was from the grumpy Chinese midwife who ordered me to stop yelling and use the energy to push!) There might, or might not have been a doctor around. Who knew? I think one popped in at one stage, but the midwives ran the whole thing.

Post labour, I was moved into my room.You are very unlikely to get a single room as a public patient - I did ask! They are on a first come, first served basis, and only if they aren't booked out by private patients. (Same goes for the double-bed rooms - they are in great demand). I was in a two-bedded room - quite nice, but still shared. I am a very light sleeper, and what with my baby, my roommates baby and nurses in the room every few hours, got very little sleep.

My main objection is the lack of privacy - not so much from your roommate, because people are fairly wrapped up in their babies, but more from the nurses and midwives constantly passing through. And manhandling you - breastfeed this way, try it that way, express by hand, express by machine ... if anything was going to put me off breastfeeding, it was the parade of midwives with different ideas as to how to do it. I ended up ignoring all advice and just getting on with it.

There was good stuff, too, though. Lots of follow up support - the Mercy at home service made several visits to my house to check Annika (dd) was feeding properly, and they have a phone line you can call and midwives you can see for the first three months. And the lactation consultants and breastfeeding clinics were wonderful - I was fairly established by then, but just went along to see if I could pick up any new tips. Very worthwhile.

While I would not say I had a bad experience at the Mercy - as professionals they cannot be faulted - I won't be going public again. Largely due to having to share a room, I must confess.

This time (no 2 is due in April 07) I'm going to Northpark in Bundoora. It's a quiet little place, and the rooms are nice - ALL doubles. But its worth knowing - if there's a problem, you and/or bub is shipped out straight to the Mercy, because they have the best facilities in the region.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Jaq

[Young_Mum]

I plan on going to the Mercy FBC as my relative gave birth there recently and I loved the care she received and just the whole experience she had! I had my first @ RWH and it was awful. I hated every bit of it and would never go there again. The most off putting bit of it all was sharing a room with 2 other women, and having NO support at all in breastfeeding or even just settling the baby etc and as it was my first I was clueless. They didn't let dh stay long and I opted to go home early.

I hope this time around I have a good experience with Mercy!

When do you think I should call the FBC to book in? I'm only 5 weeks pregnant.

[Micks girl]

My choice for MHW was not for the rooms etc but for the level 4 NICU facilities. My previous birth resulted in my baby having to be rushed to RCH as the facilities at Box Hill wern't high enough. It was piece of mind for me to know that if anything went wrong he would be at least in the same hospital as i was and the best dr's were there to attened to him.