choosing where to give birth

skintchick

snugglepet20 wrote: »

LOL I know what you mean! Did the whole thing without pain relief except for gas and air in the last hour. I actually said 'I am going to die' as I was pushing and the midwife said 'no you won't too much paperwork' :rotfl:

Same here - gas and air for the last hour only, because the midwife left it at the hospital! :eek: I eventually told her to go and get it or I'd kill her :rotfl:

thatgirlsam

daska wrote: »

As I understand it the midwife can't refuse to attend a home birth. They can refuse to allow you to use a birthing centre but they can't refuse care. However, they can try to make it a lot more difficult, such as claiming they're short staffed when you ring to say you've gone into labour!!!!

oops - cross posted!

being short staffed is not usually a claim, it can be a fact.. community midwives will be the ones attending a home birth, if they are short staffed then unfortunatley they cannot split themselves in two to be in two places at once

it really is an issue , but midwives are human too and simply cannot work 24 hours a day 7 days a week

thatgirlsam

also, the poster who said you cannot be made to do anything is absolutley correct .. all the medical professionals can do is advise you, you are free to take that advice or leave it

skintchick

Sam - it CAN be a fact but more often than not is just a claim to scare women into hospital. They begin scaring you at 37 weeks - I had the full hard sell to go into hospital even though the MW told me about HB in the first place! I know lots of people who have been scared in the last few weeks and told they won't have staff - but it has never been true. I'm sure sometimes it does happen BUT if you have informed them of your intention to birth at home then it is their duty to ensure that staff are available.

skintchick

thatgirlsam wrote: »

also, the poster who said you cannot be made to do anything is absolutley correct .. all the medical professionals can do is advise you, you are free to take that advice or leave it

They don;t make it clear it is just advise though do they? From what I hear from other women, they tell you it's what you need, which is far from advise. Women should be allowed to make informed choices, whether that is for hospital and intervention to home birth and natural birth or something in between.

thatgirlsam

skintchick wrote: »

They don;t make it clear it is just advise though do they? From what I hear from other women, they tell you it's what you need, which is far from advise. Women should be allowed to make informed choices, whether that is for hospital and intervention to home birth and natural birth or something in between.

of course, i totally agree, an informed choice is what all women deserve

and they do have a choice, at the end of the day you can do what you like, even if you want to give birth at home on your own .. you can do that .. hospitals are not prisons, people can leave any time they like

thatgirlsam

skintchick wrote: »

Sam - it CAN be a fact but more often than not is just a claim to scare women into hospital. They begin scaring you at 37 weeks - I had the full hard sell to go into hospital even though the MW told me about HB in the first place! I know lots of people who have been scared in the last few weeks and told they won't have staff - but it has never been true. I'm sure sometimes it does happen BUT if you have informed them of your intention to birth at home then it is their duty to ensure that staff are available.

thats not true, what information do you base this on?

its simple economics... if there are not enough midwives then there is not enough midwives.. i see this every day , staffing levels are dire

inkie

its simple economics... if there are not enough midwives then there is not enough midwives.. i see this every day , staffing levels are dire

True. There will be 2 community midwives on call during the night for the whole of the area - and 2 have to attend each home birth (granted second midwife comes when near the point of delivery). I have been in situations when out during the night doing a homebirth, when a second lady booked for a home birth has started labouring, and you have no choice but to ask them to go in to the unit as you are already out with someone else.

inkie

Plus, if it's during the day, you will often have visits booked in the morning, and your clinic to do in the afternoon. If you get a call to a homebirth - who does the clinic and visits. If you go to the clinic and visits - who does the homebirth?

creased-leach

I've had a baby in Canterbury, and it was "fine." It was almost ten years ago, but the experience was pretty good. They were busy, and as it was #4 I was pretty much left to my own devices to be honest- but there was certainly nothing that was offputting.