homebirth hopes fading fast

[graciem]

after 4 weeks of trying to see or speak to homebirth mw my hopes of a homebirth are fading. i have phoned the hospital, my gp and the local childrens centers leaving messages for a mw and i still havent had one call returned. it doesnt give me much confidence that they cant even return a call.

How many weeks are you now? Does'nt sound very professional to me, if your midwife is away somebody else could ring you.

How confident are you about everything, if it was me I would carry on preparing for your birth at home. When you are in labour and need a midwife, ring the delivery suite and tell them to send one which they have too by law.

Another thought is why dont you write a letter and deliver it to the head of midwifery at your unit explaining everything and your concerns about not getting any response to your phone calls. Ask her to ring you to confirm everything is all clear on your birth plan.

information on supervisors of midwives. Worth a look

i am 25 weeks now but hubby and i have lots of questions and time seems to be flying. i feel like i need time to make an informed descision. all homebirth mws are on duty and i phoned the office based one yesterday but still no reply. i now wonder do i want to put my trust in these mws that cant even call me.

Have you come across Angela Horn's homebirth website, which is full of useful info? There's also a homebirth mailgroup where there are ladies and MWs that have dealt with nearly every variety problem and can offer advice from experience. And AIMS are extremely helpful.

Sorry you're having such a hard time trying to get a homebirth organised . Even if you're starting to have doubts its worth perservering - you don't have to decide your place of birth until you're in labour, but its a lot easier to transfer into hospital in that circumstance than to get back out again!

When's you're next ante-natal appointment? If its soon (within a week) I'd discuss it then, but otherwise I'd give up on the phone and write a letter to the SOM (if you contact AIMS they'll be able to help you with a template letter) stating you're due date is whenever and you intend to give birth at home. I'd emphasize that as you'be been trying to get in contact by phone for 4 weeks you expect a quick response explaining how your care for a planned homebirth will proceed from this point on. If you haven't heard back within a week then forward the letter to the hospital's CEO, cc'd to the SOM asking why you still haven't had a reply.

DD was my first and was born at home - even though I had to transfer in afterwards for stitches, it was still such a lovely experience. It IS worth doing a bit of fighting now to get everything in place so things (hopefully) run smoothly on the day.

Good luck

graciem Sorry to hear about your problem

I had something very, very similar when I was planning DS's birth. Couldn't contact the midwife, couldn't get confirmation homebirth was booked, didn't really get to discuss it with anyone before hand.

This wasn't helped by my friend who lives in a different part of London and due at the same time as me getting loads of support and "extras". She had a home birth support group, midwives came to see her at home and her birth was planned from the beginning.

Well, I had my homebirth. It turns out that where I live they are just a bit rubbish at the anti-natal care in terms of answering the phone and returning calls. They also don't do any of the "extras" that my friend got.

Having said that, my home birth was wonderful. The midwives were brilliant and, like you, I wondered if I would even be able to get to speak to one, nevermind get one to come out!

When the time came it was the delivery suite we rang and then we got the mobile number(!!) of our lovely, lovely midwife who about 8 hours later delivered DS.

So, my advice would be... keep planning your home birth. Mention it at all of your check-ups so it's on your notes. Do your home work so you know what to expect (as much as you can).

Good luck!