Debrief before 2nd baby

[whereareyousleep]

Hi

I'm 6 weeks pregnant with my second child. I had a very traumatic birth with my 1st DS (4 1/2 years ago) and am now very nervous of a 2nd delivery.

Hopefully I will have my booking in appointment in next couple of weeks. Will the midwife be able to give me a debrief over what went wrong? Will she have access to my records from previous delivery?

Thanks

I think you would have to contact the maternity unit of the place you were at before and specifically ask for a debrief, the usual process doesn't cover that. I'd definitely ask for one, I had one and found it very helpful and had a much better second time around.

I was referred to the (absolutely lovely) consultant who was called in to assist with my first horrendous birth, she gave me a full debrief, granted me an elcs and then was there to actually do it in the day, I was very lucky indeed. Definitely ask, they'll probably refer you to somebody but it really helps.

I thought they might say I should have asked for one sooner. I will see if midwife can put me in contact with someone as delivery will be at the same hospital anyway.

No they definitely shouldn't say you should have asked for one sooner, it'll be fine

Yeah you'll have to be referred to whoever does it at the hospital. They have a brief overview but nothing of any real detail. I had a debrief before we started TTC2 and it really helped me. Good luck xx

I had a debrief after the birth of my lb, about 8 months after.
But I remember being told at the hospital they recommended I had a debrief before ttc again. They said it doesn't matter when that is and to take my time and ask for a debrief when I'm ready.

I'm in a similar situation sleep. rather than asking for a birth debrief I've requested a copy of my birth notes so I can review them in my own time and put together any questions before asking for a debreif referral. I know I will find the debrief overwhelming and forget a lot of what they say, so it will be useful to have the notes first to prepare and hopefully process the inevitable emotions so any debreif is more useful. Might that be worth considering for you? You should be able to find the request fo by googling 'medical notes request form for xx hospital'

I'm 5 weeks pregnant with second and also plan to ask to be referred for a birth debrief at my booking in appointment. Had a three-day labour with DD that ended in an EMCS and I was pretty out of it for the majority so I have lots of questions! I think you can request one at any point after the birth and it makes sense that you would do so during a second pregnancy. I have obviously thought about DD's birth a lot but until this point, there hasn't been as much of a need.

I'm expecting number 2 after a traumatic first birth and my midwife at my booking in appointment had no idea what happened first time round (seemingly no access to medical records etc). However she did refer me to a consultant who I am seeing for the first time tomorrow so hopefully they will enlighten me! I wouldn't expect too much from the midwife but am sure you will be referred on.