Pro homebirth midwife in Surrey?????

[mindymoo10]

Hi all

I am booked in to have a homebirth, however at every opportunity my MW has been trying to put me off (its my first, she thinks its a big baby, I am a horserider so will need help getting the baby out etc etc). Having outlined all the things she has said to me to AIMS they have strongly advised me to change MW immediately. However I am 39 weeks!! Does anyone know of a pro homebirth MW that is from the Royal Surrey? a few of my friends have had the same midwife as me and changed half way through.

I am normally a really assertive person but think my hormones are protecting me in an 'I will not get stressed' cocoon. Good in some ways but means I dont want to make a fuss and get stressed out....

Also AIMS has told me that having lots of scans is bad for the baby??

Can't help with a MW recommendation - although in your situation I think I'd contact the Supervisor of Midwives at the hospital that runs your CMW team, explain why you wish to change MWs and ask to be assigned to one who will be more supportive of your plan for a HB (you could point out you recognise plans change, blah blah blah, but that you'd like to have confidence you're recommended to transfer for medical need rather than personal prejudice...).

Re. scans, from what I've seen and read there is no evidence that scans cause harm. However, there is also no evidence that scans cause no harm. If you talk to them again I'd ask for the reference behind that assertion (and if you do, please can you pass it on ). Latest guidelines from the HPA are to only have scans for medical need (rather than 4D "bonding" scans) - see [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8493796.stm here. I've seen an argument that says "scans don't change outcomes, so if there's no benefit why take the risk?", but I haven't seen anything conclusive saying "scans are bad and you shouldn't have any."

Sorry - mucked up link. Story is here.

Only other thought is that if you want to have confidence that your MW is supportive of HB, and you want to know the MW who will be with you for the birth before you go into labour, you might want to consider an IM. I know its late in the day and costs a lot, but we wound up booking at 36 weeks and still don't regret a single penny - one of the reasons we turned to them was because our CMW was passively unsupportive of HB...

Your best bet is to probably ask the Royal Surrey! Good luck.

There is a midwife at the Royal Surrey called Suzanne (she is also a reflexologist and will attend births privately as a reflexologist or -I think also- a midwife).

She delivered my DS1 (in the home from home unit at RS)and has been presnet at a friends HB as a reflexologist.

She is absolutely fab and I am sure I can find her surname and phone number if you need more details.

Mindy - why will being a horserider mean you will need help getting the baby out? Have you ridden throughout your pg and do you do dressage? (Have heard that female professional dressaage riders have amazing pelvic floor tone which I would have thought was a good thing?)

i had a lovely midwife called Cherry at the RSCH. she was supportive when i wanted a homebirth, which i didn't have in the end due to very low iron levels.

gailforce1 - the logic I was given was that, as you've inferred, horse riding is a very good exercise to the pelvic floor. That's fantastic for avoiding the wonders of incontinence, but not so good when you need to relax your pelvic floor and let a baby through! My gut feel, though, is that finding it hard to relax your pelvic floor would result in a non-progressive labour but shouldn't cause a medical emergency (unless its not being monitored). So possibly more likely to wind up transferring in, but not likely to be a blue light job.

It would be interesting to know how professional riders have given birth and, if by CS, whether it was planned - but I'm not sure how many would be prepared to answer...

Suzanne Batchelor is now also working as an IM www.surreyindependentmidwives.co.uk/Suzanne%20Batchelor.htm

I'd talk to the director of Midwives, if its still the same one who delivered my last she is wonderful. There are plenty of pro -homebirth midwives (Ruth, Eva are ones I know).

Good luck!

Tangle - I wonder if there is a difference between,say, dressage and show horse riders, and show jumpers? And wonder how much this effects "casual" riders? I was watching the show jumping at Olympia in Dec and there was a female rider competing 6 weekws after birth! Mary King had a planned c section and her surgeon struggled stitching her amazing stomach muscles after delivery! At a local show a woman had to be rushed to hospital after jumping a pratice fence and opening her c section stitches so wonder how long you are told to wait before riding after a c section?

I don't know about riding and CS - I'm guessing they'd prefer you to wait as long as possible. Hope the lady at the local show was OK - did she really still have stitches in? I thought they were normally out after a week or so!

I have heard show jumping described as "dressage with speed bumps" . From what I know, the ability to use the pelvic floor is fundamental to good riding on the flat - and good riding on the flat is fundamental to any discipline. Beyond that its a case of how much time you spend in the saddle - which will make it more of a problem for the professional than the leisure rider.

The link that YMC provides above is the Suzanne who delivered DC2. She was absolutely amazing

In fact if there is ever a DC4 she would be my very first choice to be there.

Suzanne Batchelor delivered my first baby at the Royal Surrey, she was amazing, so calm, so experienced, I had a fantastic waterbirth and really couldn't have done it without her! She used to be an independent midwife but is now working back in the hospital. Some of my friends have been to her for reflexology and massage in their pregnancy and they say she was fantastic and really helped them through their pregnancy. I think she can be found via her website - maternityreflexology.co.uk

Would agree with nancydrewrocks - if there is another DC3, she would be my first choice to be there!