Awful advice from MW today

[finallypregnant]

I've been for my 34 week appointment today and feel very low from seeing my midwife. I've asked the following questions..

When do I get a hospital visit?
Answer - you don't. not necessary.

Been thinking about a home birth, what's your policy?
Answer - we don't have one as we don't have the staff.

Do I get a breastfeeding class?
Answer - yes, in July but I am due in June - her further answer is we'll fit you in for half an hour sometime.

If a home birth is a no no, can I pre-book a private room?
Answer - not necessary we'll only keep you 6 hours if all goes well (this is my first baby).

How often do you visit when I get home?
The day after and then the health visitor from day 10.

I really wanted to come away from the MW today feeling relaxed and happy that everything is going to plan except I am not in a state thinking that I have asked some very normal questions only for every one of them to be "no".

Have I asked anything I shouldn't have?

And she also told me that baby is breech and that I need to do something about it to get him to move but she didn't tell me what!

I would suggest you make an appointment to see the Supervisor of Midwives - if you really want a homebirth then you just simply state your wishes.
I understand that a lot of midwives are overworked and stressed but there is no excuse for being so dismissive of you.

Oh and re - the breech. Moxabustion has a 70% success rate (can be done at a Chinese herbalists along with acupuncture) and pulsatilla (available from Boots et al from the homeopathic section) is supposed to be good too.

of course you can have a homebirht !!!

speak to the supervisor of midwives immediately, and if not helpful, then go straight to AIMS, www.aims.org.uk

if baby is breech , try moxibustion, and search archives on here about tips to turn a breech , also hospital should offer you an ECV very soon to manually turn the baby from outside your tummy.

MWs should visit as much as you need for the first 28 days, and not discharge you from their care if you need them

re breastfeeding, i would speak to local NCT or one of the other free national helplines, you are more likely to get adequate help from them

def see the supervisor.

sorry, Xpost with VBACqueen

1. ring the delivery suite and ask for a tour

1. don't want to say 'bit late for that', but if you want an independent mw I doubt you'll be able to find one who's free

1. Ask any qs you have on MN and get hold of a copy of Bestfeeding (try the library)

1. ring the delivery suite and ask. And prime dh to remember to ask once you're actually there.

1. sounds about right - the MW comes the day after but will come back if anything isn't right/ is concerning you or her.

re turning a breech baby, have a search in the archives here, but the general idea is to spend time on all fours with your hips higher than your shoulders to encourage the head (which is heavy) down.

sounds pretty standard tbh - my mw was very busy and offhand during antenatal appts whihc pissed me off but she didn't do anything wrong.

that's ok Lulumama, nice to see we still sing from the same hymn sheet

ooooh yes !

I know that midwifes hear the same questions again and again but this is your 1ST baby and you need answers. If they are so fed up and dismissive of your questions why not give out a short sheet on frequent questions.

I met my elderly midwife just once at the surgery and she barely looked up from her notes. I asked what hospital she would recommend. In Bucks you can chose and also have the option of the John Radcliffe in Oxford (which I would highly recommend)but she looked at me as though I was mad.

After some thought we decided to have the baby privately. All I would say regarding a home birth is that it is not for everyone. My very wise consultant suggested the odd glass of champagne during pregnancy (never harmed the French!) and that I could do what ever I liked in the delivery room but he wouldnt suggest a home birth for the 1st one. I spoke to AIMS and they are quite radical although very open to home births.

Just do what your heart tells you to. Bear in mind that you might have to go to hospital if there is trouble but dont beat yourself up if the birth is not what you planned.

Hi Finally Pregnant. Sorry you had such a disppointing appointment.

I've also been told that my local hospital has a no home births policy at the moment because they don't have the staff. I contacted the consultant midwife who was very apologetic but just confirmed that this was the policy until they have recruited more midwives. Although I understand that if they are short staffed then the can't spare 2 midwives to attend a home birth, I feel really disappointed that the option has been taken away from me and am considering changing hospitals to somewhere that will allow me the homebirth option. Might it be worth considering if that's an option for you?

Hi, regarding the breech, look at birthing naturaly as well as turning baby - although that is incredibly dependant on who's looking after you at the time. Good luck and i'd look for another mw too

Wouldn't rely on that MW to pass on message that you are breech to hospital, would phone up and ask who to see. I thought all hospitals have a 'breech clinic' where they talk about your options and offer ECV, maybe not? They're not giving you much time to make informed decisions are they?

Firstly, it may be that once you actually get to the hospital the midwives are much more engaged and helpful than this woman.

But, I wouldn't rule out an IM, or at least calling around to see who might be able available if the NHS says no homebirth on them. You could well get lucky. Check this website to see who's near you.

www.independentmidwives.org.uk/

You also need to be aware that even if they say you can have a homebirth, on the day, if they really are that badly resourced, you may get a song and dance about coming in. I guess there are ways you can insist, but that wouldn't be my idea of a low stress option - being in pain and trying to negotiate for a home birth at the same time.

If I were you I would also be looking at a doula who can help through the birth - and ladies please correct me if I'm wrong - tehre are also doulas who help after the birth as well and will definitely help with breast feeding.

I am 33 wks and a bit pregnant, I feel for you and hope you get some support lined up. x

I would ask to see the consultant as well re the breech.

I would really recommend speaking to an Independent Midwife - They often can work out financial agreements and will take late bookers. Even if you don't book them, they are usually happy to give free advice. If you're in London check out this website.
here

can i just say that you cannot be refused a homebirth on grounds that there are not enough staff... it is your leagl right to have your birth at home if that is what you wish

please can you contact www.aims.org.uk who are collating this sort of information to use to ensure that more MWs are brought in and that funding is made available

The Nice guidelines suggest that midwives don't even palpate the position of the baby until 36 weeks as it can cause undue concern and worry and it might well change in between now and 36 weeks anyway.

[anger] I can't believe that a unit is actually banning homebirths due to staff shortages. Surely they could offer them some of the time and just cancel them if they are particularly busy at the particular time you need one.

Sadly the answers to most of the questions that you have posed are correct at the moment. Maternity care is much worse staffed than it was ten years ago I think. In the unit I work in we have one tour a week which is usually overbooked, but we can fit women in if they are happy to give us a ring ad hoc and accept a no if we are too busy. Midwives see women two or three times at home, but they will still see them more often than that if they need more support. We have one bf class a month, if that is missed then you would have to find out your own info, we can normally send staff out to homebirths, but on occasions we do have to ask women to come in due to staff shortages. Tis rubbish

i do know that some hospitals in the south west have totally banned homebirths but please dont just take no for an answer, i was told a categorical no and after advice on here had one a month ago and it was a jolly good job too, didnt have time to get to hospital!

can i just reiterate Aims webite? it was contact with them that got me mine, so it really does work.

Re. breech - DD was my 1st, breech, and born at home with IMs. We didn't sign up with the IMs till I was about 36 weeks. It felt very much like a choice between a homebirth with IMs or a CS with the NHS (we declined and ECV for various reasons).

If you see a consultant because you have a breech baby you will almost certainly be told that if the baby stays breech they'd recommend a CS, and they will almost certainly present the data in such a way that accepting a CS is a no-brain decision. Unfortunately a lot of the "data" they use is flawed and invalid, so a CS is often being recommended on the back of bad data. The only other option the consultant gave me was a very medicalised vaginal breech delivery, which did not appeal. If you want a vaginal breech birth you need to talk to the midwives. Sad fact of the matter, though, is that such a high percentage of breech babies are now delivered by CS the skills to deliver breech babies vaginaly are being lost.

If you want to read up on it, just in case, try and get hold of "Breech Birth" by Benna Waites and/or "Breech Birth: What are my options" by Jane Evans. The former has a chapter on ways you can encourage baby to turn. And google Mary Cronk.

Hope you can find a more supportive MW - either NHS or IM

Tangle
Yay a fellow breech homebirther

I'm def with everything you said - consultants are often less experienced with breech birth than mw's and I think their own fears drive them, rather than a good understanding and skill.

"Breech Birth: Woman-Wise" by Maggie Banks is an incredible breech book for mw's and women. Don't know if you can get it over there though.

Re hospital tours - my hospital has stopped doing them for security and infection control reasons plus I would assume they tie up staff to some extent too. There is a virtual tour slideshow on the website instead!