Low risk women/better birth facilities - unfair?

[Glassofshloer]

When DD was a baby we attended a breastfeeding appointment at my local stand-alone birth centre and WOW! To say it was gorgeous is an understatement - double bed, huge whirlpool bath thing, fairy lights and bouncy balls in every room. Looked like the Ritz compared to the tiny, dimly lit room on the CDU where I gave birth. Just a bed and some wall stickers of flowers

AIBU to think this is unfair on high risk/Consultant led women? And that we all deserve equal facilities, high risk or not? Fully prepared to be told IABU!

OP I agree with you. I had an all lights on medical birth for DD1 (straightforward but on the delivery suite due to staffing on MLU). It was fine but very clinical and quite stressful.

DD2 I was on the regular labour ward (not midwife led) in a different hospital. Of the 10 rooms they had one available that they asked if I’d like. It was huge, en suite, mood lighting. They had a birthing pool that had wireless baby monitoring (I needed constant monitoring during the delivery so thought a pool wasn’t an option). It was gorgeous. It was the lovely, peaceful empowering birth everyone wants despite DC2 being ‘higher risk’ (reduced movements +++). If every room on the labour ward had been like that so many women would have had better experiences. It’s a really shame and YANBU.

this is only because birthing centres are a relatively new concept

This time round. I gave birth in a MLU in 1975!

@Horst

Honestly as a women who’s birthed in midwife led, homebirthed and birthed in the pool at the hospital.

I couldn’t of given a shiney shite about the lighting and radio etc that I was offered in the pool room. In fact when the midwife asked me if I would like them on I told her if she wanted them on to feel free but I didn’t care.

I’m not sure who these lights and what not are for. We go in push out a baby and go home do we really need mood like and sage flowing everywhere

But surroundings must have been a factor in you deciding to homebirth/MLU?

I agree - they showed us both the MLU and the labour ward rooms during my antenatal class when I was pregnant with my first and it was so dispiriting since I knew I had to go to the grotty and grim one!

What really pissed me off in the end was that they had been so insistent in advance that I couldn't even think about a water birth or the MLU because I was high-risk so would need lots of extra monitoring - and then in the end they refused to believe I was in established labour, sent me home once and then when I came back left me alone in a triage ward for two hours, and only examined me and realised I was actually giving birth 30 minutes before I gave birth (90 minutes after I'd told them I needed to push), so almost the whole labour was unmonitored anyway.

I had my second in a pool in the MLU and while apparently everyone else is too high-minded to care I actually did like giving birth in a comfortable, welcoming and calm room, frivolous flibbertigibbet that I am. I liked actually receiving some care in labour even more.

I laboured for days in a room in the consultant-led bit (induction, prem) - it was a bit boring, but I was so worried about DS that I'd have given birth in a field if it meant he'd be OK.

I think often childbirth is presented as an "experience" - when, actually, assuming you're giving birth on the NHS, the goal is to come out with both mum and baby healthy and undamaged. Twinkly lights, a birthing pool, double bed so fathers can stay are all nice to haves, but the NHS can't afford that. Safety and health must be paramount.

I agree. I was high risk and didn't have the choice of the birthing centre. But luckily my local hospital has just as lovely facilities. The only difference was the type of bed. If I'd had a choice I would have chosen the hospital anyway. It's a pity that others in other parts of the country don't have as good facilities.

I had elective c-sections in a hospital. In and out within 24hrs. Never occurred to me to mind what it looked like. It was clean and tidy. Got the job done quick and pain free. Really couldn't care less about anything else.

Yep, drives me nuts when you see women on here having to agonise between standalone MLU or labour ward. Nice facilities, privacy, modern, homely etc vs access to doctors and proper pain relief. Why the fuck can’t women have both? It feels coercive to me to incentivise women to be somewhere they can’t get an epidural. And yes, something of a slap in the face to high risk women.

My local hospital does have fairy lights etc in the labour ward (though a MLU isn't an option at all here). Obviously there has to be equipment but if they're not using it they can do a good job of hiding it. The post-natal ward is pretty good too - only two beds per room and ensuite. When I was in I had a room to myself until about 4 hours before I went home, when I shared a room with someone else but at that point we were both just waiting for final checks on us/ babies before going home.

A double bed would have been nice in theory but in reality post C-section me appreciated the ability to raise/ lower parts of the bed a lot more than I would have appreciated the extra space!

So I think it's not a uniform picture where you always get better options in a MLU.

@MrsColon

I laboured for days in a room in the consultant-led bit (induction, prem) - it was a bit boring, but I was so worried about DS that I'd have given birth in a field if it meant he'd be OK.

I think often childbirth is presented as an "experience" - when, actually, assuming you're giving birth on the NHS, the goal is to come out with both mum and baby healthy and undamaged. Twinkly lights, a birthing pool, double bed so fathers can stay are all nice to haves, but the NHS can't afford that. Safety and health must be paramount.

I agree with the sentiment, but I think it would be more accurate to say the NHS seems to be able to afford it for some women, but not others. And that’s the part I think is unfair.

I don’t think it is ‘an experience’ per se, but I think it’s nice to make it a good experience if possible - you can’t really compare surgery for a broken arm to giving birth & meeting your baby for the first time.

Yeah it's really shit. It's the same where I live.

I mean I see your point. But I feel like there are probably more pressing issues facing the NHS at the moment than making sure the Labour ward has fairy lights

I'd say where I am they're both on a par with eachother, I'm pregnant with my 3rd and low risk but I'm not choosing the midwife led unit as it's over an hour away to the hospital and low risk or not I'd rather not chance it, all the fairy lights in the world couldn't tempt me.

@Glassofshloer yes I’m a midwife. Environment does make a massive difference, fight flight response etc. It’s a shame all delivery suites can’t provide the same environment as a MLU

I'd like a focus on post natal care and services, OP.

I've had two high risk deliveries - both varying degrees of (necessary) restriction & intervention. The delivery side kind of passed in a blur.

I'm inclined to say put the funding into the woefully inadequate support after delivery, for both high and low risk.

The way mothers are treated after giving birth in the NHS feels like a penal colony.

@nocoolnamesleft

Don't low risk women deserve equal access to the back up of rapid access to consultants, theatres, blood bank, paediatricians, and a neonatal unit?

Low risk women are allowed to choose to give birth On the Labour ward if those things are priority to them. The same is not true of higher risk women.

YANBU op

I have 4 kids, I had one on Labour ward, one In a birth centre, one at home and one on the back seat of my car but we won’t talk about that and we could definitely do with some of the stuff on birth centres on the Labour ward.

@AngeloMysterioso

The maternity unit in my local hospital is lovely- all private en-suite rooms including ante- and postnatal wards, massive birthing pools (although not in every room so there may not always be one available) birthing balls, big squashy floor mats, you name it.

This sounds amazing. How brilliant 🥰🥰🥰

If men gave birth then I think birthing facilities would be way better.

Women should refrain from attacking other women: "it's shit for me so it has to be shit for everyone" should change to : "how can we improve the situation for all" ?

The MLUs are rarely available even to low risk women. I think they are there "for show" to look like there are facilities even though most people cant use them.

Like a PP I was kept out of hospital to the point I nearly gave birth at-home! Like many other low risk women I was fobbed off and left to get on with it at home. The number of babies born by the side of a road with a paramedic (or not even them!) attest to how much we are not allowed into hospitals until it is too late.

So it's not the case that low risk women are shown to palatial suites and high risk made to slum it on a hospital ward.

I had a home birth with ds2 and it was much less stressful as I was able to labour and progress rather than labour then time a trip to hospital for when they'd let me in. I got better care and more pain relief. Unfortunately you would not want a HB if high risk.

Low risk women get lied to and told that MW led units in the community, half an hour from hospital, are safe. I don't give a shit about fairy lights - if I'd have been in one of those community units I'd likely have a brain damaged daughter
I've worked in NICU the worst cases of HIE (brain damage due to lack of oxygen) were either home births or MLU. I had both of mine in a hospital bed with oxygen,blood and a fully functioning NICU on site and wouldn't have it any other way no matter what shape of bean bag or fairy lights I was offered.

The number of babies born by the side of a road with a paramedic (or not even them!) attest to how much we are not allowed into hospitals until it is too late.

This has happened to 2 women I know in the last couple of years… one of them had a major PPH with only her husband for assistance as the ambulance hadn’t turned up… it’s scarred them both for life…

@traumatisednoodle

Low risk women get lied to and told that MW led units in the community, half an hour from hospital, are safe. I don't give a shit about fairy lights - if I'd have been in one of those community units I'd likely have a brain damaged daughter I've worked in NICU the worst cases of HIE (brain damage due to lack of oxygen) were either home births or MLU. I had both of mine in a hospital bed with oxygen,blood and a fully functioning NICU on site and wouldn't have it any other way no matter what shape of bean bag or fairy lights I was offered.

How awful, noodle why was that the case? I thought you could only HB if you were super low risk? I know of one lady who had a HB with the same condition as me, but I would never dare go against medical advice and risk it.

Because there is isn't enough time to get to hospital once things start to go wrong.

I can see both sides on thos- I was gutted I wasn't eligible for the MLU I'd been geared up for (hospital one, I'd never go for a standalone) at the last minute but the room on delivery suite was actually quite reasonable with a full bathroom, just less space and less comfy for DP as he had to sleep in a chair while the drip did its thing for me. This time I was hoping for another go at getting in the MLU but they used it for covid and since then haven't had the staff to reopen it when it wasn't needed for covid (which it is again now...) so everyone is on delivery suite. I can't say as I'm that bothered having experienced delivery suite last time but then I'm not into the fairy lights stuff anyway. I mainly wanted the MLU as there's a good chance of being discharged from there without having to go to the postnatal ward which really is torturous!

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27865094/

I think it's because generally MLUs are often new buildings or recently refurbed whereas the labour wards and theatres in maternity hospitals are often old and they are making do with ageing facilities. The new maternity hospital planned in our nearest city is going to be a fantastic facility, it will still be a hospital but the rooms (no wards) will be much more adaptable and comfortable.