Changing Hospitals at 40 Weeks!!

[Rivanshine]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to see if anybody else here has had experience of this. To cut a long, long story short I woke up this morning (EDD is today BTW!) with the feeling that something wasn't right about me giving birth at the Midwife-Led Unit where I am currently booked in. Therefore i'm seeing my GP tomorrow to have a chat with her and hopefully re-book myself into the larger hospital 9 miles away.

Firstly, has anyone been able to do this successfully? Secondly, has anyone here had a less than positive experience from their so-called 'friendly, home-from-home' midwife-led unit like I have??

There are so many things I could tell you that the MANY midwives I have seen so far (I have yet to see the same woman twice!) have bumbled about with or cocked-up that it would take too long to type.

I should add that I am considered 'Low-Risk' - but maybe that's why i've been treated this casually so far eh?

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Rivanshine xx
40 weeks today!

you 'll be looked after by midwives whereever yu go, assuming things go smoothly. IME midwives are a bit distracted during antenatals, but more turned on at actual births. Imagine how you'd feel dipping your twentieth little beaker of urine of the morning?

I think it depends where you feel better. Some people are really tense about hospitals, others are re-assured.

Don't fret about changing late in the day. Esp if you're low risk, it's just a question of getting admin put through the system. I haqd late-in-the day changes with both of mine (but I moved), and I had no problems.

Hi Rivan
I can totally understand your jitters. Might they be more about giving birth itself than the unit you're booked in to? Bear in mind that the community care you've received is likley to be very different to the care you'll receive while in labour. For me choosing btwn mw-led and hospital it came down to the atmosphere, mw led units tend to be much less interventional, consultant units tend to be far more clinical, you're in one room and thats it BUT you do have the option of more powerful pain relief more quickly should you need it (swung it for me in the end after a difficult birth with my DS1).

Wherever you are you're unlikley to have one single mw with you throughout your labour unless you're very lucky and it all happens during one shift which is why I focused more on things like facilities rather than the people.

OK, will stop rambling , hope that helps anyway
phee (37+4)

Hi Pheebe,

I totally take on board what you're saying about the possibility of me getting anxious about the birth itself......however.....

The thing is that I feel like I have kept an open mind about the MLU each time I went for an appointment. As Kif says, I have tried to put myself in the midwives place and see things from their point of view and i've hoped for the best each time I see one of them. I realise that they don't have an easy job to do and the clinics must be very boring for them - also I realise that I probably won't know the midwife at the time I go into labour and on top of that I may get a different one if the shift changes during it.

What i'm trying to say is that I feel that I haven't really received any sort of continuity of care from the MLU. Every appointment brings a new face - and yet another person who doesn't know me or my medical history and has to trawl through my notes each time. For example, I have PCOS (and was also noted down as Obese on my records) and I am Rhesus Negative blood type - the midwives consistently forgot to send me for blood tests, GTT Tests and also forgot to give me my Anti-D injections on time. I had to remind them about it! On the first occaison I went to the MLU for my appointment and injection only to be told that they had forgotton to order the Anti-D so could I come back next week??

I should have also seen the consultant gynaecologist at the main hospital (following my fertility treatment) at some point during my pregnancy but when I mentioned it early on the midwife just laughed at me and said that he wouldn't want to see me now. That same midwife popped in on my last appointment and asked me if I had seen the consultant. When I said no she said 'well, you should have done. But you won't be able to get an appointment now so that's that then.' Arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!

I know that life isn't perfect but surely this sort of thing isn't normal practice is it? This is my first baby and i'm sorry to say that I really don't feel confident about giving birth at the MLU. They just seem to have so many rules and regulations and a lot of it boils down to this: if you haven't 'performed' within their time limits or to their standard then they are going to stuff you into an ambulance and send you off to the main hospital anyway because they don't have the equipment or staff to deal with you.

Am I just being neurotic about this or do I have a valid concern about things?

Riv xx

Your concerns are certainly valid but i'm afraid they seem par for the course these days. I've seen the same mw throughout, well since about 14 weeks, and there's still stuff she doesn't remember about me. last week she thought I was 40 weeks (I was 36!!)

My attitude had been that I'm the keeper of my own health and the health of my baby and refused to be embarassed for chasing things up, questioning things etc and going over peoples heads (phoned head of midwifery a couple of time as I wasn't happy with what turned out to be minor things).

I still think it boils down to the atmosphere you'll be most happy to give birth in. from your post it sounds as though you've lost all confidence on the mw-led unit so at the very least see if you can urgently get an appointment to look at the hospital. Phone the labour ward there direct though and see if they'll let you come for an informal look rather than wait for GP or anyone to try and arrange things

Good luck, once your LOs here it all pales into insiginificance anyway

I think you should feel happy about where you are going to give birth. If you are happier in a big hospital, then go there. Regardless of whether it is rational or irrational, if you feel happy yourself, then go to the big hospital.

Make sure you have your hand held notes and mention all your medical bits and pieces to those looking after you.

thanks cupcakes, it was my nans name and as i don't have any dds its my online name
yours makes me want to run for the cake cupboard...yes i do have a cake cupboard...

Rivanshine,

I can understand your fears, but the mws could well be the same as were at the birthing unit and the hospital.

the mw's in labour should be more attentive etc. If you want to CAT me I may know of the hospital you are going to and may be able to calm some fo your fears. (Im a doula and have worked near where you live)

Cx

in your shoes, i would swap. It would probably be easier to kick up a stink and demand another mw/ an obstetrician in a big hospital. You might end up feeling trapped in the mw unit, if you're already uncomfortable

Hi hertsnessex,

Hope you don't mind me posting this but I would like to tell you which hospitals I am talking about.

The MLU I have been attending is WJC Hospital in Braintree. The main hospital that i'm now thinking of going to is St John's Hospital in Chelmsford.

Any info you have would be great as I have only been living in Essex since 2005 so I don't really have much to go on except anecdotal stories from 'years ago' told to me by my husband's family. I also feel under a bit of pressure to have my baby in Braintree not only because my husband was born in that hospital but also a lot of his relatives were too and it's now seen as something of a 'tradition' in the family to do so.

In a way I feel a bit guilty for even considering going to Chelmsford but something keeps on nagging at me to transfer there. I guess at this point it would be a good thing to listen to my intuition eh?

I dont know much about the braintree hosp, but i cant recommend St Johns highly enough.

I had ds2 there in 2004, i have had many clients give birth there, most recently a client had her baby at 31wks, and the support she has been given is amazing.

I would choose St Johns everytime, and the mws are all fab.

just mail me if i can help anymore (details on profile)

Cxxx

Rivanshine,

have you had your baby?

cx