Birth centres/midwife lead units

[adogisforlife91]

Everything I read says they offer a 'home from home' environment. What are your ladies actual experiences of them, and how 'medical' are they? Do you still have beeping machines and heart rate monitors and such?

The reason I ask is because for some reason my body goes weird in medical environments. I've been into a hospital twice (not for me!) And fainted both times. Today I had an early scan at 7 weeks, and I was shaking uncontrollably!! It's so weird because I don't get wound up before going in or anything, I'm not afraid of needles or doctors. It's like a subconscious reaction I can't control!!

So I'm just a bit worried about being like that in labour and it affecting the birth. I'm toying with home birth because of it, but it's my first and we are 30 mins from hospital.

Grateful for advice in general and experiences of midwife led units?

Thanks!

My experience is a couple of years ago now and it certainly wasn't a "home from home", it was still fairly sterile in terms of looks but no big bleeping machines - the only monitoring equipment was the portable blood pressure, temperature reading machine that you see every where in hospitals and the midwife's Doppler. I was in two rooms - a normal delivery room and then went into a room with a pool as I wanted a water birth, both had a comfy chair for DH and some pictures on the wall. Both had their own bathroom. Probably more like a Travelodge with a hospital bed in it than any sort of medical set up.

You might be able to do a virtual tour of the suites online to have a look. The midwives will advise you when you need to go in but I think it's generally best to stay home for as long as you can bear it given some labours can take days.

Does your local one offer virtual tours? Having been a birthing partner on the labour ward and then giving birth myself on MLU, I can say that I personally preferred MLU. It was still a clinical environment, but the rooms were bigger and more welcoming, there was mood lighting and music already playing, a little kitchen are for my DH and mum to make themselves a drink if needed and it had an ensuite, which was nice after the birth to get a shower before going onto the ward. I wasn't aware of beeping machines, midwife checked the heartbeat with a Doppler every now and again, be I was very much zoned out. I used Hypnobirthing breathing techniques, just a book and CD and found it helpful, so might be worth looking into

They are still hospitals at the end of the day - I had a look round one (forced to - had no intention of going to a midwife led unit). Anyway it had a massive bath in it which lit up like the bridge of the starship enterprise and twinkly lights on the ceiling, bouncy balls and other odd shaped wedge shapes bit like you'd see at a children soft play centre 🤣 honestly the room freaked me out it was as far from "home from home" as you could get. DH was more interested in checking out the sound system which would sync to his iPhone play list

Thanks - hopefully being in the throws of labor will over power whatever bizarre instinct makes me like this. Or maybe after several hospital appointments/scans i'll be able to control it. I've got to go in for the bloods and urine etc on Thursday so that will be the first test!

Sterile. No bleeping machines. Some aromatherapy woo and a birthing pool. Weird furniture you'd expect to see at a soft play centre. Horrid soft lighting.

Limited pain relief options. I don't understand the hype of them to be honest.

With ot being corona, I can imagine everyone being in masks and quite a few extra rules.
I think being relaxed is so so important so Im going to talk to my MW about a home birth, also 30mins away from hospital. Im scared lockdown will be worse after the New Years, and just want my partner there with me.
Ive started reading about hypnobirthing and homebirths and its all so positive. When are you due? Have you got time to read more into homebirths?

also expecting my first, and low risk atm ☺️

My first labour (at 36 weeks) was horrific. It lasted so long. I wasn’t allowed to really walk around because of being hooked up to machines, etc, and I feel like that stressed me out a lot and slowed my labour down. Ended up with a lot of intervention.

Second labour, I was in the MLU (which is attached to my local hospital so if anyone was to go wrong I could just go upstairs to labour ward) was so much more relaxed. I had music on, lights dimmed, birthing pool. It was great and considerably quicker (24hrs for 1st, 6hrs for 2nd).

Currently 15 weeks, I will definitely be requesting the MLU again this time

Anything* not anyone

@blodyn91 I'm not due until June so loads of time! And plenty could change between now and then which means I'll have the choice made for me. But I was so surprised at my reaction to being in the private scan clinic (which was hardly medical at all) that I started to think about what I might be like in an actual hospital. Will definitely be looking into hypnobirthing which ahs been recommended by a few friends, and more seriously about home birth if the lockdown situation doesn't ease by then & the pregnancy is straightforward.

@adogisforlife91 ahh you have plenty of time! Do not start stressing about it all now. Ive ordered a hypnobirthing book for Christmas, and been reading the Happy Birth Book by Beverly Turner. Really enjoying it, it sort of just explains everything, so putting my mind at ease. Also everything is your choice, I will put no forceps on my birth plan and no epidural, and try and not get induced. Just want as little intervention as possible.

I had my second in the birth centre at Lewisham hospital.

It was lovely. All the medical kit was behind cupboard doors so you couldn't see it. There was a double bed, the tub and a sofa. The bathroom felt a bit more hospital like as it was a wet room but you could ignore that.

Lights were low and music was on.

They did get the incubator table out when I got there, but the midwife explained that they do that to warm the towels lol.

I really loved it

I think one of the best things about the home from home was that my partner could stay and we were in the same room the whole time. It felt and looked bloke a hospital. I had good experiences there both times though.

Definitely try and get a tour of your local one. We did and it’s really reassuring to know where you’ll be going. If that’s not available in COVID maybe see if they can send you a video or face time you?

Check the location of your midwife unit, OP. Ours has no obstetrician on site, and is over 20 miles away from the nearest hospital labour suite.
At least one baby has died during emergency transfer.
Don’t even consider using it unless it is either inside, or next door to, the maternity hospital.

I had my first in the labour ward & second at the midwife led unit. They were attached to each other so for me there were no concerns about needing any additional intervention & being miles away.

I wouldn't exactly call the midwife unit home from home but it was much more calming & less hospital like - though still very clearly a hospital. No beeping machines, staff very calm & barely noticed them checking her heart rate or my temp. Overall a much more calming experience but my labour ward birth was pretty relaxed until he got stuck!

Definitely see if you can get a tour or at least a virtual one.

Had my first at an MLU in the water. If you want a water birth they are the best place for them

• the midwives are much more empathetic to hypnobirthing generally, and the type of Mum that chooses an MLU will probably be hoping for that kind of delivery. So if that’s what you want their approach may support you

-the many pools at my MLU are amazing and perfectly set up. The 1 pool at my hospital took AN HOUR to fill and was awkward for the midwife to use. It was a smaller room with no space for birthing ball or other supports. MLU room was huge

• statistically much less likely to need assisted delivery at MLU

• I had a transfer for retained placenta after DC1, and was at hospital v fast - check transfer times when making your choice

• postnatal care on MLU is better largely because it’s quieter and they can give you more individual attention. DH and I got private room pre Covid. Whereas hospital ward for DC2 was busy alllll night

I had to have DC2 in hositpial, but if had a third, I would definitely want to go back to the MLU

The MLU i gave birth in (within a hospital) was absolutely gorgeous. More like a spa than a hospital. Dark, atmospheric lighting, very little medical equipment (or well disguised/hidden), music playing etc.

I gave birth to my second at my local midwife unit. It's in a small community hospital a couple of minutes (by car) from my house. Nearest hospital 30-40 minutes away.

It was amazing. I had midwife appointments and post-baby checks there (for both pregnancies) so it was all very familiar to me, which was great as I felt totally relaxed there.

I think home from home is fairly accurate. It is slightly clinical (of course!) but once the lights are dimmed, etc. it was just a lovely relaxing environment. No monitoring at all, except midwife listening into baby at regular intervals. The room wasn't huge but big enough for the lovely birth pool, a birthing bed (less clinical than a hospital bed), space to pace about during labour, a kitchen area, and an en suite wet room. They also had nice family rooms to transfer into if you wanted/needed to stay longer than a few hours after the birth, these have a crib, bed, comfy chairs, changing table, etc.

For me there was absolutely no way I wanted to go to a big hospital, unless medically necessary. I knew from speaking with the midwife that they always err very much on the side of caution in terms of transfer, which helped put my mind at rest. In the end DD was born on a snowy night, and by the time we left the house I couldn't sit down in the car and had to kneel in the passenger seat - no way would it have been safe to do a 30+ minute car journey in that fashion, so I was very grateful to have this unit on our doorstep. If it had been further away I would have opted for a planned home birth.

I think birth centre births are calmer for the baby too. Born into a darkish quiet environment, rather than into the harsh glare and noise of a hospital (there were loads of people in the room when my DS was born!).

At the end of the day it is a hugely personal choice, but I definitely think it's worth finding out what your options are like.

My first was born in a midwife unit inside a large maternity hospital, and it was really just a hospital ward.

My second was born in a stand alone birth centre and it was definitely medical but far
home comforts more relaxed. I found it had the feeling of a doctor's surgery or clinic, rather than a hospital. It was much quieter (although I was there 1am to 6am which may explain that!) and the rooms had more home comforts. I also felt the midwives were more relaxed and less busy. I had the same midwife for the birth, stitches, the next morning and for the newborn checks the following day whereas first time I saw about 5 different ones.