Highlands and islands......anyone else in the sticks??

[GizzyBoo]

This is my first post so sorry if I have just jumped in without the formalities

Mr G and I moved to a remote island in Scotland 5 months ago and have now convinced him decided to try for #4

I have ds 14, dd 12 and ds 8 next week.

Are there any other remote mommas in wanting out there?

Where we live its normal for mommas to go spend a month+ on the mainland once due date approaches....but what I really want is to have my baby here.
That would mean NO hospital back up.....there is no hospital on the island....medical intervention would mean being air lifted off and away.

Am I completely nuts to even consider #4 given the age difference let alone our location??

Are there any other remote momma wannabees out there???

Would appreciate another perspective

[fidelma]

we were on holiday in Ardnamurchan 2 years ago when I was expecting dc4.I got food poissioning which set of contractions.I was very scared it was the middle of the night,too early to deliver and would of needed to of been air lifted outHowever all settled down after some good D+V!However I did feel very remote.

I went on to deliver a healthy boy at 39 weeks in the local hospital.

What were the deliveries like of your other 3 dc I think this is key as to where you choose to deliver this one.Is there a mw near by?

What age are you?

I think you are wise to consider the options as it is a big decision.

[Ariesgirl]

Ah, women in the Highlands and Islands have been having babies for millennia. Have you not read Rhanna?

You'll be fine.

[ToriaPumpkinHead]

I grew up in the back arse end of Orkney, where my mum is the midwife. She's even done home deliveries. You're probably in very good hands

[ToriaPumpkinHead]

Oh, and obviously I'm not sure which islands you're in, but I've never heard of a mother spending more than two weeks on the mainland at home, unless there are complications or the baby is massively overdue. As I'm sure you can appreciate though, having women give birth nowhere near a hospital and where getting an ambulance can literally take hours, is not realy ideal. Lots of women have lots of babies up there though, (I think the record at home, for within my lifetime, stands at seven) so it can't be that awful really

[GizzyBoo]

Thanks for the replies ladies....and sorry about the delay....interweb problems are now hopefully sorted.

I am 34.

DC1 was induced at 40+2 for PE...assisted delivery but vaginal birth. 8lb 13oz
DC2 was spontaneous labour at 41+6 and delivered naturally. 9lb 7oz
DC3 was induced at 37+1 as I was pressured after a growth scan showed him as being a very big baby. Had my waters broken and laboured and delivered naturally after that. 9lb 7.5oz.

We are in the Western isles (Barra)
There is a midwife on the island but as I said no hospital support at all. Would have to travel up to Stornoway or over to Glasgow to await events if the pregnancy had complications.

I have spoken to a few mums who say they tend to go on to the mainland about 37-38 weeks and return about 1 week postnatal. Its a bit of a trek to the mainland!

Obviously I dont want to take any unnecessary risks but would love to stay here and be with my family. My only family on the mainland are in either Yorkshire of Staffordshire.

Hmmmmmmmmm....guess there is no knowing anyway until you know how the pregnancy is going.

Thanks again x

[Bobby99]

Oh what a fantastic problem to have! You live in such a wonderful place, what a lovely place to bring up a family. I expect you'll get better care up there than you would in a busy city hospital. I'm in Staffordshire, but we make an annual trek to Wester Ross or Skye and every year we dream about moving up there but for various reasons we can't. All the best.

[GizzyBoo]

Thanks Bobby,

We have been visiting the islands for the last 6 years as the in laws moved up here 7 years ago and after a holiday here at Easter went home with the post holiday blues!
A week later hubby and I decided what the hell and we made the decision to move up here and give it a year and see how we felt. We were back by August and have been here almost 6 months.
Its wonderful. The children have so much freedom and are safe to explore. Hubby has work, kids are settled so we decided to complete our family here too.

All I need to do now is make an appointment to have my Mirena removed and we are all set with TTC