Hospital weight limit

[Emigrated]

Hi all,
just wondering if anyone else has had to birth at a different hospital because of their weight? I am a bit overweight but very tall and the hospital doesn't take height into account!!! my doc has complained about the policy but if I put on 5kg in the next 10 weeks I will have to go to a hospital over 120 miles away. argh.

Weird! No, no idea about that.

I understand having a high BMI could class you as high risk, but just to do it on weight sounds barmy.

Best of luck.

Never heard of this before but as with all maternity policies, you can question it. If they say you can be at the far away hospital ask to speak to the supervising midwife at yoir local one and discuss it with her. She has the authority to make an exception to the rule.

Talking to a human can usually negate any ridiculous policies.

That's crazy. Is it definitely nothing to do with BMI? Just weight! How ludicrous. Dig your heels in. Discrimination against tall people!

Is this in the UK? Since your name is "Emigrated"...

Is this in the UK? Since your name is "Emigrated"...

Hey thanks all. Yes, I'll dig my heels in. I'm in Australia but wanted to get a sense if this is a common thing. Having the docs on my side must be a good start. .... it's not linked to bmi at all. so stupid.

If your in Oz the UK rules won't be much use to you. You need to find out what people do in your situation where you are. As far as I'm aware, pregnancy and birth is more doctor than midwife focused, isn't it? If this is the case, I'm not sure how much you can do.

Is there maybe and Australian parenting forum where you could ask this question? Or in the "Living overseas" section of Mumsnet. There might be someone who has gone through the same thing living down under.

Thanks guys, yes there's plenty of forums but none as good as this one! Have a gd day!

I don't mean you should leave this forum. Just that maybe yo will get better answers to that particular question on a local forum as we won't have a clue about the rules in Oz.

Just wondering if some of the equipment has a weight limit - then bmi would be irrelevant, only the actual weight of the patient would matter. That's the only reasoning I can think of!

I happen to have to hand a copy of In May's guide to childbirth... in the resources section there are some Australian links:

nursing and midwifery council

www.birthinternational.com

New S Wales midwifery association

Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond - this sounds most like an advocacy organisation.

Thanks for all the replies; much appreciated. My baby is measuring 4 weeks ahead so I'm hoping it might come early and it won't be an issue!