birthing centre and 24 hour stay

[holly goodman]

Hello mummies and helpers!!

i am pregnant w my first child and like the idea of using a birthing centre. My only problem is that i feel uncomfortable with being discharged after only 24 hours. If i feel fine after 24, then great, but what if i dont? What if I feel i need more support?

I am currently booked into monash medical centre (melbourne) and will be using the public system. Has anyone used this centre? A friend gave birth (not in birthing centre though) there 6 years ago and said the midwives were aweful..that scares me off a bit.

any advice?

holly

[jembelina]

I'm not sure what happens if you want/need to stay longer (I would presume you could jsut be transferred to the normal maternity ward) but I did have my ds at Monash jsut last year. I didn't use the birthing centre and had a ceasar so my situation is different to yours. BUT, all but one of the midwives were fantastic. Even the bad one wasn't that bad - just didn't like the way I wanted to do some things.

[mum2cooper]

I know here in Adelaide if you use the birth centre but need/want to stay longer you get moved to the maternity ward (after 24hrs after bubs is born), thats what I was planning to do but ended up having a c/sec.

[mum23girls]

awww, don't worry about the midwives, I am sure there may be new ones there by now!! But you will encounter the good and the bad!!!

I agree with mum2cooper, I am sure they will have facilities if needed!
Good luck

[wattle]

Have you had any of your appointments with the midwives yet? I'm scheduled to have bub there in the next 2 or 3 weeks, and I have met all of the staff now I think. They're all so lovely. In fact the only one who's not lovely is the birthing centre receptionist, but fortunately you don't have to see her other than for booking appointments.

When are you due?

They told me that if you're not feeling comfortable enough to go home, you're welcome to stay longer. They will look after you, but where you are located will depend on how many women are using the birthing centre at the time. So if they're really busy you'll go over to the public maternity ward but still be cared for by the midwives as well as the other staff.

[jody@melb]

:wave: Hi all,

Just in reply to the birthing Centre debate. I had my first child in a birthing centre in 2001 at KEMH in Perth. The room, staff, support and care were outstanding but the shock to the system was the 24hr release date (thinking that i could do it and it would be o.k), my daughter wasn't feeding so well and while we had very good midwife visits after that it was a bit tough, you don't realise how much birth takes out of you physically, my MIL came to visit 2 days after the birth at home and described us as looking like "Stunned Mullets:eek: ".No sleep. So therefore my 2nd daughter was in a public hospital for 3 day stay and I am expecting our third in Feb also 3 day stay.:sleeping:

This is just my experience but like i said the stay was good, just make sure you are prepared and well supported when you get home if you still think it is good option for you.;) GOOD LUCK and all the best for your birth

[4tiggers]

With my first bub I was out of hospital in less than 24 hours, I felt great. It wasnt planned but when the time came around I could'nt wait to get home. They send a nurse to come to your home for a few consecutive days after to do the heel ***** test, check on feeding, weight gain ect. My second bub was the same, home five hours after he was born with a nurse who visited. Third bub was at a birthing centre in Canberra, they were fantastic, a double bed for DH and I to share with our new arrival. I was home less than 24hours later but had the follow up nurse again. Bub four was the same but no birthing centre in Darwin.

I was lucky, you may be also, give the birthing centre a go and if you need longer you can be moved to the maternity ward.

Good Luck:fingerscrossed:

[elissas]

I felt great and went home after 20hrs - we were at The Angliss Birth Centre in FT Gully.

If we hadn't felt like going home we would have been able to stay another night though.

[Jamily]

I had a birth centre birth with DD and left after 4 hours as everything had been so straightforward (was going to say easy but that isn't entirely true!!!). In hindsight I wish I had stayed in longer as birthing is very tiring and it would have been good to take advantage of the hospital nursery. However, I do know that if I had needed or wanted to stay in longer then I would have been transferred to the postnatal wards for as long as needed (within reason I guess!).

Good luck :)

[annsam]

There is no way I could have gone home after only 24 hours with my first. I was terrified! Feeding didn't establish, I didn't know what to do with him......... I would look into a longer stay for sure and if you dont need it - great. You can always hire private postnatal care aswell if you want to leave but dont have support at home. Mothercraft nurses aren't cheap but they do a great service.