Midwife care questions (primarily SA focused)

[squeezles]

I'm in SA and I just found out I'm pregnant (5 weeks tomorrow) and I'm feeling overwhelmed about picking a provider.

I have private health insurance, but I want a midwife based care. I like the model that birth is a natural process and want to reduce the possibility of being pushed into interventions as much as possible. To that end, I would like to give birth in a birthing centre. In Adelaide the only options for that seem to be: Women's and Children's Hospital, Lyell McEwin Hospital and Flinders. I live in Mawson Lakes, so Flinders is too far away. My preference would be for the Midwifery Group Practice at the W&C's, but I know they have limited numbers. I've called them to book in, but because it's Xmas have not heard back yet.

My questions are:
1. If the MGP is booked up am I likely to be able to get midwifery care at that hospital as part of the normal hospital services or would I have to go with an OB or another hospital?
2. W&C's has a "catchment" area, but I can't find out what that area is. Does anyone know?
3. Can I get primary midwife care at a private hospital or is that only available in public hospitals?
4. Apparently you can hire independent midwives...how does that work? Is that just if you have a homebirth?

Thanks for any advice. I've done a lot of reading - enough to know I want a midwife level of care, just not what to do at this point!

[squeezles]

I forgot another question...apparently you can only go primary midwife route if you are "low risk". My husband is concerned that if it turns out I'm not "low risk" at say 6 months I will have less option of an OB and is concerned with no OB being involved in the care at all. From what I understand midwifes consult with OBs in the hospital all the time so it's not like there will be no "doctor" intervention if required? Is that correct?

[missymoo9]

Cant help with alot but

Mgp at wch is amazing, i didnt go through them but heard great things, also there delivery room is just spectacular.

Catchment area.....

I lived in golden grove and they wanted me to have antenatal appointments at modbury hospital abd birth at either lyell mc or wch even though i told them i was high risk and had to see a specialist at wch. I had to bend over backwards, i used a friends address and said i lived in felixstow and they STILL wanted me to have my appointments at modbury. Yet i have friends who live in ingle farm and got to choose.

It all depends what the pregnancy hotline people say

So youd be going public??

If you were classed as high risk sometime during your pregnancy depending on the reason you may see a more experienced mw or an ob or gyn. They would hand you over to a more suitable care provider you wouldnt be left with a care provider who wasnt equip for your needs or risks.
The obs and gyns there are simply a dream, they are so lovely.

Wch is fantastic.

Sorry i couldn't be more help

[squeezles]

Thanks for your info. I didn't realise I had to call the SA pregnancy hotline...I called them and they said that I would be going to Lyell Mc. I called Lyell and I'm booked in with them. I think I'm ok with that, BUT having not met the midwives there or seen the facilities I'm not sure I am and would like "options" in case I'm not happy. If I'm a private patient do I have to go with what the pregnancy hotline says? Can I book in with WCH too and trial them both out so to speak?

[missymoo9]

A friend of mine went to lyell mc and thought it was good except if your a public patient having midwife care you dont have one mw throughout your pregnancy you have a different one just about every visit.

Im not sure if they do mgp.

If you go private im pretty sure you can choose your own hospital, maybe call the pregnancy hotline and just ask to see what they say.

What you could also do is call both lyell mc and wch speak to the antenatal department /womens out patients and ask for a tour of the hospital. Wch do them regularly i assume lyell mc would too.

Im pretty sure you have to go with what the pregnancy hotline says, if a public patient.

[uptheduff]

You can insist on a particular hospital even if you're going public. I live slightly closer to the Lyell Mac, but i went to the WCH for most of my hospital births because it's easier for me to get to (when i was pregnant with DS2, i didn't have a drivers license yet, it's easier to catch the bus to the WCH from here).

If you want to go private in a public hospital, i belive you will have to choose an OB, and therefore not have midwifery care.

If you don't get into the MGP at the WCH (and i'm guessing you won't if you're zoned to the Lyell Mac), you can go through the midwife group. You'll see the same midwife for most appointments, and have whichever midwife is on duty for your labour/birth. I did this with DD and DS3, and it was really good.

Most independent midwifes do homebirths only, but some will support you in a hospital. Usually they can only be a support person though, not your actual 'midwife' iykwim....but with the new rules that *may* have changed recently (i doubt it though!).

[Tangarine Mummy Machine]

I did mgp at wch for both my pregnancies. I was high risk with dd and didn't get kicked out but i cant use them again. :(

with dd's pregnancy i was zoned lmac but i would prefer to give birth on the side of the road then there (i used to work there and it is awful).

I called the pregnancy line and demanded i go to wch. I said i was going mgp. They tried to palm me off but i insisted. Then i kept calling mgp every day until i got in. I did this from 5 weeks.

The mgp is really good and with ds, i had a water birth in the birth centre. Dd being so prem, i had to use the normal rooms because i needed an epi. It was still a good experience. I am now really good friends with the midwife who delivered ds.

[squeezles]

Thanks for all the info - it's making me feel a bit calmer about the whole thing!

I rang up the MGP at WCH and they said that I was out of the zone so could not birth at the birthing centre. They seemed to imply that I could have antenatal appts there, but would have to birth in the hospital with the midwife on duty, even if I was outside of the catchment area. I was a bit confused by that since when I rang up the switchboard number to book in the first thing they said was "what's your hotline ID number" (which for me would be Lyell). They didn't seem that willing to budge on the fact that I was out of the catchment area when I was on the phone, but maybe I just backed down too easily. The lady I the phone did seem to think that they had a similar program to MGP at Lyell. I think my husband and I will go on a tour of the WCH this week and discuss the options with someone face to face, since I'm finding it hard to articulate to them what I want and getting over the "you're not in our catchment area" bit and what the options are (if any) if you're outside the area.

Tangarine Mummy Machine ~ can I ask what it is that you didn't like about Lyell Mc?

[Mummy2Kobi&Hailee]

:cheerleader1:CONGRATULATIONS:cheerleader2:

I had my baby girl at the Lyell McEwin in December 2009 and they were fantastic.
I had to see the professor eveytime as i was "extremely high risk" due to previous complications with my son in 2004.
I saw the midwives for the very first appointment where they took my history and gave me the info and orange booklet.
The day of my c-section the midwives were fantastic at calming me down and helping me relax as i had had a horrific experience with my son and i was frakin out it was going to happen all over again.
My after care was fantastic aswell back on the ward not once in my 5 day stay did i have a "crusty" nurse like you tend to get atleast once.
If i was to get pregnant again i would be going to the Lyell McEwin for sure even if i lived out of the zoned area i would use my mums address as she is in their zone.

:flowerz: Broni

BTW my son was born at another hospital and it was horrible and horrific i ended up in ICU for a few days

[Tangarine Mummy Machine]

I used to work at llyal mac. I saw some awful things. One was a lady in labour stuck in emergency waiting room for over 5 hours. :no:

I was security so only really saw the worst but i know i could never give birth there.

[ryderashleysmum]

hi just reading the posts here, the lyall mac have a midwife based service where u labour in the the birthing centre but you do have to be classified "low risk" to birth there... also if you choose to have an epi they will move you over to the labour ward.
and also what tangerine was saying also happens at wch my stepmums waters had broke and she got left in a room on her own for hours because they didnt believe she was in labour....ended up having a c section as baby was distressed.
i had my son at wch under ordinary midwife care and i saw somebody different everytime. ill have my next one at lyell i think i have toured there had a m/c at 14 weeks and there facilities are brilliant and the birthing centre suites are gorgeous big baths double beds plenty of room for mobility and they try to give u the same midwife everytime there is a website u can look at all the statistics for amount of epis and ceasars etc. ill try and find it and let u know what it is.
at the end of the day i think if u are low risk midwife care wont be a drama but if there is a complication you will need an ob.
hope my rambling helped!

[ryderashleysmum]

tangarine: what is the mgp at wch? i think i have heard about but i never got told about it when i had my son is it new? i personally didnt mind wch its just that lyell is closer to me.

[Alexwp]

Hi there
I may not be able to help you out with on how to best get into a MGP in the north (as i only know south- being that is where I am based) but might i suggest, if you are after some continuity of care and someone to really support you in your decisions, ringing UniSA or Flinders Uni and getting a student midwife to follow through your pregnancy journey.
We, as students, can support you and source information on where and how you can have your bub, and we can act as a good 'buffer' between you and the health care 'system'.

Best of luck and i wish you a beautiful birth
Alex

[squeezles]

Hi all...thanks for all the feedback. I've done a fair bit of reading around on various sites to get people's experiences of both Lyell and WCH and it seems to be much of a muchness - some people say great things about both and there are a few negative comments about both. I guess it really depends on the day and who you get. I have my first antenatal appointment (at Lyell) tomorrow morning, so we'll see what happens. Given that I'm zoned to Lyell I think I'll stick with it for ease, unless we are truly unhappy with the care.

That's a great suggest Alexwp about the student midwife. I'll keep that in mind. I'm already pretty keen to get a doula.