aimee0211 - I posted on your thread without realising it was your thread. Doh! Sorry if bits of what I posted aren't relevant, I didn't wade through the previous posts before posting.
WhatWillSantaBring - yes I find some of the threads horrific. I'm trying not to get involved...had a bit of a fight on the goats cheese thread though. At least on Mumsnet, if you think someone is being stupid/dangerous/silly, you can say so. I used to be on another forum and got fed up of not being allowed to say anything to anyone in case they got upset - I once got told of for responding "is this a joke?" to a post asking if anyone had bought fertility tarot kits off ebay to help them conceive.
squistle - we're not buying anything big until after the 20 week scan. I nearly caved when I saw the Mothercare sale but DH pointed out that as we haven't cleared the 3rd bedroom yet, there's no where for any of it to go yet. I'm hoping Mothercare might have another sale in the autumn so I can go mad knowing I'm saving hundreds of pounds! It's got me galvanised to start clearing the room though, so hopefully by September, it'll be clear and decorated!
SpangleMaker - the time it can take to get to hospital in rush hour is one of the reasons we're considering a home birth. We know a blue light ambulance can get there in under 20 minutes, but if there's a crash in rush hour (a frequent occurence on the M4!), driving yourself can take up to 2 hours! I am not happy at the idea of being in full established labour trapped in a car for anything near that long.
A few other questions to consider asking:
Re hospital births... If you would like one, how many birthing pools does the hospital have? Many just have one, so if you get there and someone is using it, it's tough. Also, if the pool is being used, will they let you labour at least in a bath?
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Do they have birthing rooms where you can have an active labour (e.g. stay upright and move or use a ball or whatever you want) and stay in one private place for the duration of labour. Labouring on your back tends to make labour slower and more painful.
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Could you have the option of a mobile epidural, so you can stay reasonably upright even if you want an epidural?
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What's the hospital policy on feeding and formula?
Re home births... What's the home birth rate in your area (an indicator of how experienced the midwives will be with home birth)? The English national average is just under 3% so my area's 5% average is actually high.
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Are they experienced with water births?
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How many many midwives are there on duty at night or on weekends?
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What's the set-up for bad weather? Our midwives have 4x4s available but apparently they get a bit nervous if they're needed as the ambulances aren't 4x4! I really hope we don't have a snowy/icy December again.
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Can you get pethidine at home and who prescribes it? If it's the GP that prescribes it, it can be harder to get than if the midwives can bring it from the hospital.
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When will they support a home birth? If I'm under the PCT hospital (which we're now going for), my area will support a home birth from 37-42 weeks and are not against a monitor and see policy from 42-43 weeks, although they'd be pushing induction at that stage. Some areas only support from 37 or 38 weeks and up to 41 weeks.
I'll post if I think of any more if they're of help.
I saw the physio this morning about my hips & SPD and she really reassured me that I'll be able to do something to stabilise this. I've got a list of exercises, the go ahead to go back to doing my old pilates DVD (with specific advice on which bits to avoid, yay!) and have been told to start swimming asap. Also was told that if it doesn't really hurt to do something, I won't be making anything worse, so will stop panicking!