Can I choose which hospital to give birth?

Need_More_Money_2

jellyhead wrote:

i couldn't have coped with sharing a bathroom, i was going for a wee every few minutes it seemed lol! and leaving a trail of fluid wherever i went too, so much amniotic fluid! it was bad enough that the loo wasn't ensuite, so i had to walk onto the main corridor each time, with monitors strapped to me, carrying the drip stand, my nightie rucked up because of the monitors on my belly. i'm just glad it wasn't a saturday afternoon so no ward tours, mostly other people in labour and their partners to see me struggling to the bathroom.

I agree with you (well as much as I can, being male) but just wanted to make the point that the health of you and your baby is more important.

Crispy_Ambulance

Need_More_Money wrote:

Bear in mind that how 'nice' the place is, is only part of it. Surely what really matters is how good is the care you receive? Some of the nicely decorated birthing centres are mid-wife led with no medical support available on site. I'm not criticising the care that mid-wives give, but if there are problems with the birth, it is nice to know that medical support is available. In some centres, this would require an ambulance journey to another hospital.

This is slightly OT but needs to be said.

The majority of births do not need any medical support i.e. doctors. Home birth is statistically safer than hospital birth. Midwife led units have excellent safety records and the majority of problems come from medics interfering with a natural process - eg inducing babies that aren't ready to be born, making women lie on their backs when that is the worst possible position to labour in, continous monitoring etc.

Midwives are the experts in normal birth. Most doctors only ever see complicated births in their training.

Women need to feel safe and relaxed for their labours to progress and for the labour hormones to be produced. This is why birth environment matters. If the room you give birth in is comfortable and you feel relaxed there, your labour is far more likely to progress naturally. Many women feel tense in a hospital environment and this slows hormone production down.

Research shows that women labour better and there are better outcomes for both mother and baby when a woman gives birth in the environment of her choice.

Need_More_Money_2

Crispy_Ambulance wrote:

This is slightly OT but needs to be said.

The majority of births do not need any medical support i.e. doctors. Home birth is statistically safer than hospital birth. Midwife led units have excellent safety records and the majority of problems come from medics interfering with a natural process - eg inducing babies that aren't ready to be born, making women lie on their backs when that is the worst possible position to labour in, continous monitoring etc.

Midwives are the experts in normal birth. Most doctors only ever see complicated births in their training.

Women need to feel safe and relaxed for their labours to progress and for the labour hormones to be produced. This is why birth environment matters. If the room you give birth in is comfortable and you feel relaxed there, your labour is far more likely to progress naturally. Many women feel tense in a hospital environment and this slows hormone production down.

Research shows that women labour better and there are better outcomes for both mother and baby when a woman gives birth in the environment of her choice.

Thank you for pointing that out. I certainly didnt intend to suggest that complications are common.
Agree that most births probably do not need medical attention and the surroundings ARE important. But I still feel medical backup should be available if the mid-wife feels it is required. Also agree that Drs should only be involved for the complicated births.

I do not know the statistics or the details, but often, quoted statistics are misleading. For example if home births are screened (i.e. only low risk patients have them, with higher risk patients going to hospital), then it would appear that home births are safer when in fact it is not the case. I have no idea if this is what happens, but I would've thought it likely.

jellyhead

how far you live from hospital might affect the decision to have a home birth - if you're 2 minutes away you'd probably feel confident that help was close enough if needed.

after my last labour i said if i did it again i reckon i could do it in a field somewhere, and would enjoy it more (somewhere deep inside i have this daft desire to actually go into labour and have a baby without being on a drip and having my waters brutally broken) although i quite like the idea of home birth, and somebody mentioned giving birth in a field earlier, i think that would be really good, my friends experience would put me off. perhaps her being obese affected the fundal height measurements, but they're not too accurate anyway i dfon't think. nobody knew her baby would be a giant, and the shoulder dystocia (sp?) was a bit of a nightmare, but worse than that her baby didn't breathe for absolutely ages, and was whisked to hospital in a helicopter, leaving the mum behind wondering if the baby would live. she felt huge guilt, and says her next baby will be born in a hospital. so while i think home birth is a great idea i don't think i'll choose it myself.

Crispy_Ambulance

Shoulder dystocia (where one shoulder gets stuck) is an emergency and is just as dangerous in hospital as at home. It is not necessarily more common with bigger babies, although you would think so - small babies can get stuck as well if they come out at a funny angle. However, it is quite rare - but will always freak a midwife out!

There will always be complications but in the Western world, where women are well nourished and have access to good antenatal care, then there should be far fewer emergency caesareans and instrumental deliveries than there are. The problem is one intervention so often leads to another and another and so on. The most important thing women can do is to go with the flow and relax, but that is so hard to do if you are hooked up to machines etc!

BTW, hope your next birth is more relaxed Jellyhead. I thought your little one was due in November? Don't think I would fancy a field much in winter time - maybe a warm cave???

jellyhead

i keep forgetting november will be cold lol! if we had some sort of midwife unit i'd prefer that to hospital.

while i appreciate that my first induced birth was an emergency (pre-eclampsia) my second one seemed unecessary. a sweep at 7 days overdue didn't work, and she said everything was high and there was no danger of giving birth within the next couple of weeks. routinely taken into hospital at ten days overdue and kept there until baby emerged. others were having a section purely because they were 16 days overdue and 4 days worth of gel (then a rest day) didn't dilate them enough for the knitting needle. i had gel for a few days then the needle, i was nowhere near ready for labour but they could just about force their way in. after 4 hours of not being in labour i was on the drip to force baby out and it wasn't until afterwards that i realised it was just a production line, and there was no real need for the drip.

i sound quite negative don't i lol! i'd much prefer a laid back unit where there was less intervention though. there was no emergency with my overdue baby. my eldest wasn't cooked either, delivered at 39 weeks but they said he'd have stayed in for another month given the chance so no doubt baby number 3 will be overdue too and i'll have no say in how things go. i definitely want to do it without machines and drugs, but there's just the hospital here, no midwife unit. a unit would be fab, i know i don't need epidural etc. and don't want any other interventions really.

Need_More_Money_2

jellyhead wrote:

i keep forgetting november will be cold lol! if we had some sort of midwife unit i'd prefer that to hospital.

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Aren't the hospital maternity units midwife led anyway? I thought it was usual for everything to be done by the midwives unless they felt the need for medical support

Alleycat

Need_More_Money wrote:

Bear in mind that how 'nice' the place is, is only part of it. Surely what really matters is how good is the care you receive? Some of the nicely decorated birthing centres are mid-wife led with no medical support available on site. I'm not criticising the care that mid-wives give, but if there are problems with the birth, it is nice to know that medical support is available. In some centres, this would require an ambulance journey to another hospital.

Medical support can still be available if you have your baby in a midwife led/birthing centre. Quite a few are next to or part of the main hospital but are a lot more homely.

I ended up having to be constantly monitored during the birth as my babys heartbeat dropped very low. It was agony as they refused to let me get off the bed. I ended up in tears as she was back to back and anyone who has had a similar experience can tell you that being forced to lie on your back with a posteria baby is the most excrutiating pain imaginable. I eventually forced my way off the bed and stood up which actually made the birth progress a lot quicker and was a lot more comfortable for me.

With home births and birthing centres the percentage of women who end up needing intervention i.e. ventuose, caesarian etc are greatly reduced. Also, if you have ever had to share a bathroom with another labouring woman it is not the easiest thing in the world. Bodily functions can't always wait and when the other woman is sat on the loo for ten minutes the results aren't pleasant. When I told my sister that I had to go, get undressed, shower, dry myself and get dressed again with no help whatsoever she was gobsmacked. Her OH had been able to help her whilst the midwife looked after their new baby. I could hardly stand and nearly collapsed.

I understand why it can be important to have medical help available quickly, but if the birth is expected to be relatively straightforward I reckon a birthing centre or homebirth would be the way to go.

Need_More_Money_2

Alleycat wrote:

Medical support can still be available if you have your baby in a midwife led/birthing centre. Quite a few are next to or part of the main hospital but are a lot more homely.

.

I think midwife led is fine but just because it is on the same site as a hospital doesn't necessarily mean the medical support is available. Often the hospital is not set up to deal with such things and transfer to another hospital is still necessary. As you say, complications are thankfully rare but setting up a system without backup seems wrong to me.

tee_pee_2

congratulations, you can change your hospital I did at 22wks, the midwife did it all for me I just had to go for a routine booking appt. It would be better to do it early though as sometimes you ahve to have scans at each hospital, ( but not sure if that was because I changed boroughs)

Speak to your midwife.
PS my GP was an a*** I asked him to take my bp as I had swollen ankles etx and he refused saying that was midwifes are for, i went for my routine ante natal appt the day after and was admitted with pre-eclamsia and had my DD 3days later at 30wks. I was too scared to complain but the midwife took it on board and he has now left the practice. ( not sure if due to me or not)

So in short do what is best for you and your baby sod your GP