Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Flip

Original poster

Your experiences of midwife care.

20 replies

Runswithsquirrels · 09/12/2012 07:57

Now, I knew I wouldn't get one midwife because I live in London - but I was hoping for at least a team at the hospital I could be familiar with.

After my booking in appointment it seems I have to split my care between three sites and will only go to the hospital I intend to give birth at for the scans. I won't be familiar with the place or the team and it really worries me (like I need help worrying at the moment!).
What are your experiences of midwife care?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

QuietNinjaChristmasSpecial · 09/12/2012 08:01

I didn't know any of the hospital midwives. I went to the community clinic and saw the same midwife all through my pregnancy. Was booked for a homebirth with that team and had met a couple of them. When I went into labour one came out but because of meconium in my waters I went to hospital. Didn't know a single person there. I was so out of it I didn't give a shit though.
I believe it's quite rare to have the same midwife in hospital as you do for antenatal care unless you have an independent midwife.

newbielisa · 09/12/2012 08:07

Have had 2 DD's. The second 4 1/2 weeks ago. Have only ever seen hospital midwives for scans. I'm in the North West.

Saw community midwives for general mw appts. We have a mainstay team of two but I did see another 2 or 3 as well due to usual team being on holiday, on shift at the hospital or maybe dealing with home births. Really didn't bother me. To be honest it never entered my head that I'd get to know the delivery midwife in advance.

Don't let yourself get stressed about it, it's sometimes nice go see lots of different people, you can collate lots of info from all of them.

All the best with the rest of your pregnancy

DeathMetalMum · 09/12/2012 08:19

That is the way it is here (and most places afaik). You have a community midwife who does all of the antinatal appiontments (this is the same person throughout where I am unless illness or something) and then midwifes who work in the hospital.

When in labour with dd1 I had a specific midwife who was assigned to me to come and check on contractions and dialation etc, I had an 18 hour labour though and went through 3 shift changes in that time so the MW overseeing me changed a number of times. Then there were other midwifed on the postnatal ward. I did see my community midwife around the hospital, she popped into my room during my labour. Some hospitals do offer a tour around their maternity unit ours have an online video tour maybe check if yours does that.

ThreeWheelsGood · 09/12/2012 08:21

I'm in London too and not only had a different midwife every appt, but I moved house/hospitals near the end of my pregnancy so knew even less about the eventual hospital I gave birth in. That l said, I had absolutely amazing midwife care every step of the way, especially during the birth and post-natally. I wouldn't worry about not being able to "get to know" the team you'll be with during birth, all the many midwives I've meet have been amazing at their jobs.

scandy · 09/12/2012 08:27

I only went to the hospital once before birth, to go on a tour and familiarise ourselves with parking etc. I saw a different midwife almost every time for the community ante-natal care. I must have seen ten different midwives! It doesn't hugely matter, I don't think. And no, the midwives who do the delivery do not deal with ante-natal care, so you won't meet them until the day. Don't worry, you'll be fine.

worsestershiresauce · 09/12/2012 08:28

I never see the same midwife twice either. I think it's normal, as there are just too many patients for the midwives to be allocated specific people. I wouldn't worry, as everything is in your notes.

Original poster

Runswithsquirrels · 09/12/2012 08:47

Thanks for all the replies.

OP posts:

OodKingWenceslas · 09/12/2012 08:52

I go to the hospital for all appts. I see a lot of regular midwives but their job is on antenatal clinics not labour/maternity ward so wouldn't see them at birth anyway

Smeggnog · 09/12/2012 08:57

Brilliant. I'm in North London and was booked in with the homebirth team. Saw the same midwife all the way through pregnancy, despite having to give birth in a MLU due to a health concern. She would have been at the birth too if she'd been on call that day.

And she's visited me twice since DD2 born, coming again today. I can't recommend homebirth teams enough. Sadly it appears our trust is disbanding the HB team and I don't know how it will work from now on

Smeggnog · 09/12/2012 09:01

BTW DD was born on Tuesday! One of my mw's visits was just to say hello when I was in the MLU awaiting discharge. Everyone was amazing tho - even the lovely trainee midwife I saw in the day unit for monitoring the morning before gave birth came to visit! Totally different experience from first DD - that was not good

TheElfOnThePanopticon · 09/12/2012 09:10

With DD, I saw the same community midwife for mist if my ante-natal appointments, and had 2 midwives from the hospital for the birth. With DS I had independent midwives, so saw the same 2 midwives throughout pregnancy, for the birth and for 2 months after DS was born.

BrittaPerry · 09/12/2012 09:14

I had the same community midwife, but I hated her, so that was no good.

In fact, it is the behaviour of midwives that is one of the reasons I am terrified of pregnancy. The other being a collection of complications, most of which made worse by midwives.

One of them nearly killed me and dd1 by refusing to believe I was in prem back to back breech labour until she was practically out, very stuck and I had to have a proper crash section with an inverted T incision.

That hospital didn't send my notes on to the hospital of the next pregnancy, who told me that 'no one has that kind of section any more' and refused to get me a consultant appointment until AFTER the point when DD1 was born.

A community midwife AND a hospital midwife refused to believe I was in pain with SPD and told me it was normal aches and pains and I should force myself o exercise. That advice is most probably why I still limp during my period, despite DD2 being three years old.

With dd1 I was throwing up even water. Again, I was just told that I shouldn't diet when pregnant, right up to when I started peeing blood.

But of course I have a history o mental health problems and was young, so wht did I know?

I'm sure there are some lovely midwives, but I didn't meet them.

I still get flashbacks

AliceWChild · 09/12/2012 09:21

Same MW throughout pregnancy. 3 hospital midwives (long labour) that I hadn't met, but that was fine. They were great.

If you want consistency I'd suggest getting a doula to supplement your MW care. They're great.

woody2313 · 09/12/2012 09:56

Having taken lots of advice at our NCT classes, DH is all prepped to complain if we don't like our midwife... whether he's brave enough when the time comes is another thing!

Weissdorn · 09/12/2012 10:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AliceWChild · 10/12/2012 08:36

That's what it's like if you employ an independent MW here too. They're just pricey (and won't exist after next oct unless there's a change in gov policy)

rrreow · 10/12/2012 14:34

I'm in central London and had the same community midwife during the whole of my pregnancy. She would've probably been there during my home birth but due to obstetric cholestasis I had to be induced early on the labour ward.

During labour I didn't know the first midwife, she was really lovely though and I didn't mind that I hadn't met her before. She was very gentle and nice. When she left, the woman who took over was the one who had done my booking in appointment and she delivered my baby (she was amazing!).

If you did have appointments at the hospital, chances are they wouldn't be on the labour ward / birthing centre anyway so it wouldn't have given an opportunity to know the place.

Leigh89 · 10/12/2012 16:41

I asked my midwife if I could see her this week as I have broken my ankle and am due to give birth in 4 weeks so just wanted a bit of advice as I'm worried about the birth as I will be in a cast up to my knee and she told me I can't see her til late next week!!

gwenniebee · 10/12/2012 16:49

I had the same midwife for most (but not all) of my appointments at the gp. She also did my dd's day two house call and the ten day check, but I saw different ones at a couple of the ante-natal checks and also post-natal for the day five check.

My scans were at the same hospital I delivered at but in a different building.

I don't think you can expect to know/be familiar with the midwife or team that you deliver with as (I assume) you don't know in advance when you're going to have the baby! My midwives when I was in labour were absolutely lovely and seemed to get to know me pretty quickly even though I'd never met them before.

gwenniebee · 10/12/2012 16:53

Oh, also, I said on my plan that I was happy to have a student mw with me, which is a fab move imo because you get pretty much one to one care from them, and then the "proper" mw too :)

Flip