RBWH Midwife program

[Horseymum]

Hi everyone

Just wondering if anyone has had their baby through the Midwife program at Royal Brisbane & Womens Hospital (not the birth centre)?

I am booked in with the Pegasus team and was just wondering if people felt it made any difference to being in the normal system. I had my first baby at RBWH in May last year and was a shared care patient which worked well right up until I was in labour and in the ward afterwards, where I was at the mercy of anyone who happened to be on shift.

Thanks for the feedback....

Karen

[Seekrit]

Hi :)
I'm with Pegasus myself at the moment, and while I've only had a couple of appointments with the midwives I do like the system.
in particular - only friday appointments, so I know what day I'll need to take off work/do things
The Pegasus midwife I spoke to was really nice and chatty and explained lots of things to me, with another midwife I had (not pegasus) she sorta rushed me in and out and that was it really. I don't know if either is common practise but yeah. :)

A midwife I know who works at the Birthing Centre said "Ohh good good" when I told her I was in pegasus, so that's another plus? hehe :)

[Oscar's mum]

I too am crossing my fingers to get into the Pegasus group! Friday's suit me better.

I havn't used them before though, I went mainstream just like you Horseymum last time!;)


By the way you live just around the corner from me!:thumbsup:

[Mum2Lucas]

I was in the pegasus program for the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy. although i didnt get many appointments with them they were really nice except for one that wasnt too nice when i was having my antenatal appointments but i had her for the birth of my son and she was great. she even stayed on a bit longer to see him being born. and then the morning after i had him the other woman i saw at a few antenatal apointments came to see me after her night shift. all in all i think they are really good.

[Horseymum]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies - it sounds all positive which is great!

I have my 20wk scan on the 9th of May and then my first Ob. appt on the 12th and I find out then if I am in for sure, but the midwife that booked me in was pretty confident that I would be accepted.

Who knows maybe I will see some of you at the Hospital on a friday??!!

Hi OscarsMum - where do you live???????

Bye for now

Karen

[Seekrit]

hah Karen, I have an appointment on the 12th :)

Have fun at your scan! :D

[Horseymum]

Hi Nikki

My Appt is at 10.30am so if your around then maybe I will see you there!
I can't wait for my scan, I thought I would be much more relaxed 2nd time around but I am still hanging out to see if everything is okay, oh and to find out what we are having!!!!!!

Karen

[Seekrit]

hehe Mine's for 9.30 :) however given some of the waiting times of public hospitals.. :eek:

[Oscar's mum]

Hi OscarsMum - where do you live???????




Everton Hills

It is more like Arana Hills though!;)

[Tea Lady]

I was with Phoenix for my DD and they were great!! I don't have anything to compare it to though. A friend of mine who is an OB at RBWH recommended them to me as providing a good balance of care (ie touchy feely balanced with medical intervention IYKWIM!) and I trust her opinion :)

[jmacg]

I had my first baby 3 weeks ago and did pegasus at the Royal Brisbane. I thought it was great I am a casual teacher the Fri morning appointment suited me, meant I didn't work Friday or did a half day:smiliedance: I was lucky as I had met the midwife who delivered my daughter twice and she was one of the ones I really liked. She commented on how relaxed we both were during the labour and I am sure it is because I felt comfortable having a familiar face. I too feel as if as soon as I said I was with Pegasus when I went up to the birth suite the pegasus midwife was sent for and said oh you are one of mine and that made me feel happier. I would recommend it.

Hope this helps,

J

[Horseymum]

Hello again ladies!

Thank you for all the replies - I am a bit late getting back to this topic - I have been really busy!!!

Another question for you - Did the Pegasus midwives have anything to do with your postpartum care in the ward? or were you only seen by the normal ward midwives? Just curious....

Thanks again

Karen

[Horseymum]

Ohh and were there any midwives on the team you didn't click with?

[Seekrit]

I've loved all my Pegasus midwives so far :D They seem more chatty than when they're too busy so I get a 'normal' midwife. I really really enjoy going. Sometimes I do wait a bit longer for my appt but I don't mind, I don't have much else to do anyway! hehe.

I'm seeing them every 2 weeks now, so it's harder to get an earlier appointment..

There haven't been any middies that I haven't clicked with. and I haven't been up to labour ward or beyond yet to see if the pegasus midwives have any hand in my care.

[Horseymum]

Hi Nikki

Your so close now - how exciting for you!
I have another midwife appt tomorrow - my first proper pegasus one as the other two were just a booking in appt and an obst. appt which took all of 5 minutes! He was basically like "you are doing great, baby's growing, keep up the good work, bye now!".

Nice to hear that all of the midwives have been nice. I have to say, at my first birth last year at the RBWH that the two female midwives I had were FANTASTIC, the young guy was nice but a bit aloof. It was just the ward midwives that were a bit.....cranky and busy:rolleyes:

Thanks
karen

[BJelly]

Hello again ladies!

Thank you for all the replies - I am a bit late getting back to this topic - I have been really busy!!!

Another question for you - Did the Pegasus midwives have anything to do with your postpartum care in the ward? or were you only seen by the normal ward midwives? Just curious....

Thanks again

Karen

Hi, I went through with the Phoenix midwives and I really liked the care I received- I would go through them again for sure.

They don't really do any postpartum care, although the head midwife of the group came to visit me a day or two after I gave birth.

Like the previous poster, I found that the nice midwives were few and far between - like my husband said after he met a few of them - if they weren't mean, they were just plain weird. Many of them I think are burnt out or something, because they had zero bedside manner and zero empathy and treated new mums as subhuman.

[Horseymum]

I had my 2nd Pegasus appt. this morning and I was really happy with the whole exprerience. I had a lovely midwife Jane who spent ages talking to me about my previous birth and how I felt about it, how i coped with breastfeeding etc. I felt really comfortable and came away feeling really positive about this whole pregnancy/ birth and the care I will recieve - I am so glad that i chose this option. Fingers crossed that it all keeps going this well!

As far as postpartum care goes, I am relying on the fact that I will be much more confident and relaxed this time around and won't really care about the ward midwives. I am definetly considering the option of going home after 24hrs - just trying to figure out if it will be more relaxing at home or at the hospital!!!!! I won't want to be away from my son for very long but perhaps staying in the hosptial a couple of days will give me a chance to bond with the new baby before heading back home.....?????

Karen

[Sylas' mum]

I was with Phoenix for my DD and they were great!! I don't have anything to compare it to though. A friend of mine who is an OB at RBWH recommended them to me as providing a good balance of care (ie touchy feely balanced with medical intervention IYKWIM!) and I trust her opinion :)


Hi there,

I am interested to hear a little more on the "balance of care" that you received. Did you need medical intervention as a result of a high risk pregnancy? I would love to try and birth my second baby at the birthing centre, however as my last pregnancy was deemed high risk, and experienced a very problematic birth, I have been told that the birthing centre is not an option. I have left a message for a midwife in the Pegasus or Phoenix team to return a phone call to discuss my options with them. Do you know what the difference is between the two teams? Would love to hear more of your experience if you feel comfortable sharing your story, either on the forum or via personal messages.

Lisa

[Seekrit]

Lisa - as far as I'm aware the difference is the Pheonix appointments are on a Thursday and Pegasus are on a Friday.. they're both seperate teams of middies too. I'm with Pegasus and loving the care I'm getting. I feel really comfortable and I'm really looking forward to my birth!

[Tea Lady]

Hi Lisa,

My pg wasn't "high risk" but I did end up being induced. Things went fine in 1st stage but I pushed for 2.5 hrs before bub's heartrate dropped and they had to do an episiotomy to get her out (she had her hand up next to her ear and wasn't budging :rolleyes: ). I thought the midwives were really kind and knowlegable - my only gripe was that they were understaffed at the time (I think) because they weren't in the room much for 1st stage because there was another lady having a tough labour at the time - this is more a Qld Health issue than a midwife issue though! They tried to follow my birth plan I think which I am glad about but were excellent support when things didn't go according to plan.

I think the balance of care thing that my friend was talking about was to do with her opinion that medical intervention (when needed) tends to arrive quicker in the normal labour wards than in the BC, which is a good thing if you have an emergency. I hope you manage to work something out with the midwives - I think they would be great!

[mum2bee]

Hi everyone, how do you enrol in the Pegasus Program?

Thanks

[Horseymum]

Hi mum2be

When you have your booking in apointment at the RBWH (usually about 16wks?) you let them know then that you wish to do one of the midwife programs - Pheonix on Thursdays or Pegasus on Fridays. they will check the availability for the month your baby is due and if there is room they will process you. You then need to confirm it with them at your next appointment just to make sure that you a definetly booked in.

I am doing pegasus and have been really happy with the care so far etc. I haven't had to wait too long for my appointments and all of the midwives have been really helpful with any issues I have wanted to discuss.

Have you had your booking in appt. yet?

Karen

[Shilo]

Hi Ladies,

I'm just wondering if i'm being stupid but I am so confused about all this birth centre/birth suites/pegasus/phenoix/'normal' midwife talk!

I thought having a baby, you went to the hospital and had it! (Silly first timer I guess) lol. There are all these choices and preferences and what I find at times - competition. The whole - 'oh, you're going to the 'norrrmal' part of the hosptial.... ' sorta thing.

I've had various women tell me that the 'birth centre' is just 'Sooooo much better' and that it doesn't even compare to the birth suites and care etc.
Now I come across this post about pegasus and I'm finding myself thinking - is there yet another service that is supposedly better then the 'normal' widwife care? I'm just very confused.

All I know, is I go for my appointments to RWBH on a wednesday. I'm not sure if that puts me into any 'group' or that it makes my level of service any worse then the others? It does make one feel quite 'lower class' to a point. :thumbsdown:

I'm now getting paranoid that just having bub within the 'normal' system I will somehow have bad treatment and a difficult labour and be taken care of by evil monster midwifes!! :devil6:

Can someone please explain to me how it all works?! and if i'm being ridiculous please, don't hesitate to tell me so! hehe

Thanks girls,
Shilo

[Oscar's mum]

Hi Ladies,

I'm just wondering if i'm being stupid but I am so confused about all this birth centre/birth suites/pegasus/phenoix/'normal' midwife talk!

I thought having a baby, you went to the hospital and had it! (Silly first timer I guess) lol. There are all these choices and preferences and what I find at times - competition. The whole - 'oh, you're going to the 'norrrmal' part of the hosptial.... ' sorta thing.

I've had various women tell me that the 'birth centre' is just 'Sooooo much better' and that it doesn't even compare to the birth suites and care etc.
Now I come across this post about pegasus and I'm finding myself thinking - is there yet another service that is supposedly better then the 'normal' widwife care? I'm just very confused.

All I know, is I go for my appointments to RWBH on a wednesday. I'm not sure if that puts me into any 'group' or that it makes my level of service any worse then the others? It does make one feel quite 'lower class' to a point. :thumbsdown:

I'm now getting paranoid that just having bub within the 'normal' system I will somehow have bad treatment and a difficult labour and be taken care of by evil monster midwifes!! :devil6:

Can someone please explain to me how it all works?! and if i'm being ridiculous please, don't hesitate to tell me so! hehe

Thanks girls,
Shilo


Going to the 'normal' part of the hospital does not make the level of service you get worse etc. I went through the normal part of the hospital with Ozzy and this time I am going through the Pegasus group as I really like the idea of meeting the midwifes that will most likely be at the birth before hand and just to know them a bit before hand. Their are some really nice midwifes in the normal section of the hospital too!;)

[mum2bee]

Hi mum2be

When you have your booking in apointment at the RBWH (usually about 16wks?) you let them know then that you wish to do one of the midwife programs - Pheonix on Thursdays or Pegasus on Fridays. they will check the availability for the month your baby is due and if there is room they will process you. You then need to confirm it with them at your next appointment just to make sure that you a definetly booked in.

I am doing pegasus and have been really happy with the care so far etc. I haven't had to wait too long for my appointments and all of the midwives have been really helpful with any issues I have wanted to discuss.

Have you had your booking in appt. yet?

Karen


I have my 12 week scan on the 27th, should I mention something then. When I went to my GP she sent away all the details and said that the hospital will let me know which program I will be in. I thought the program you would be in is determined after your first scan to see if you are high risk or not ???

[Horseymum]

Hi ladies

For Shiloh: I went normal midwive care at the RBWH with Jett (actually I did shared care with my GP but had the normal midwives) and found that all of the midwives I had for appointments and for my labour were great. This time around I wanted the continuity of care that you get from seeing a small team of midwives so that I felt more comfortable and confident during my labour. Both options give you exactly the same level of proffesional care in the long run, I just think that the midwive teams are a bit more set up to offer personalised care in such a big public hospital. But heaps of women have babies all the time using the standard system with out any complaints at all so I guess it just comes down to choosing an option that works for you.

For Mumtobee: Your doctored would have done a referal to the RBWH and booked you in for your first ultrasound. The hospital will send you a letter and a form to fill out and send back to them to book your first "Booking In" appointment with the midwives - this usually happens at about 16 weeks. They will check your scan results but they will also go over your general health history and check the usual - blood pressure, fetal heart beat, fundus size ect. It is during this appt. that you need to specify the type of care you are after (birth centre, midwife program, shared care etc.) If they thought there would be a problem with you being accepted they would let you know otherwise they should just go through the booking procedures that I already talked about in my last post. It gets really confusing I know!!!!!! If in doubt about any of It give the maternity outpatients a call at the hospital to ask about making appts. Good luck!!!!!!!

For OscarsMum: good to see you back! How is your pregnancy going??????? Are you liking pegasus??

I will stop now - fingers are tired!!!!!!!

Karen

[Oscar's mum]

For OscarsMum: good to see you back! How is your pregnancy going??????? Are you liking pegasus??




lol believe it or not I havn't actually met the Pegasus group yet:banghead: You would have thought at 24 weeks one of my appts (considering I have had soooo many) would have been with them but no! I nearly met them a while ago but then because of the gestational diabetes in my last pg they I believe have come up with a new rule that if you have gestational diabetes you cannot go through the midwifes you have to go mainstream hospital. I have been tested once and that came back good so apparently I am still with Pegasus but I will need to be retested in 3 weeks I think again.

But fingers crossed my appt at the hospital next friday is with Pegasus:fingerscrossed:

[Horseymum]

What a bummer!!!!!!!
I hope your test comes back okay for you!!!!!

I am going to a pegasus appt. on friday at 9.30am - perhaps I will see you there? I will be the one with the out of control toddler hogging all the toys in the waiting room:D

[MrsDribbleDrawers]

Nice to hear some positive feedback about midwife care!

Just this week I signed up with Phoenix, after a great intake interview with a relaively new midwife at the hospital. We are waiting to hear if we get in to the birth centre, though, as it is our first preference. Should hear in the next two weeks.

I went public with DD (8) up north, and never considered that my baby would be delivered by anyone other than a midwife. I guess up there it helped that there was such a small roster of midwives, you get to know them over the course of 9 months, which is why I like the idea pf dedicated teams at RBWH and jumped at the chance!!

Good luck to everyone, and I hope your experiences continue to be positive!

Cate