Birth centre experiencesFind out what sort of experiences the following babyworlders had of birth centres.
"It epitomised all that I believe a lovely calm birth should be""I gave birth to my third beautiful daughter - Georgia Eve - on 1 December 2005 at a midwife-led unit… and it was the most wonderful, positive experience ever! I was so amazed by the experience that I am looking into a career in midwifery. "My first two daughters were born in a big hospital and the whole experience has a big black cloud over it. My first was a long, painful labour, including a dose of pethidine given to me too late and therefore not kicking in till 10 minutes after the birth! My second was a hazy and negative experience, followed by being asked to leave six hours later because they were too busy! "I was encouraged by my community midwife to have a homebirth but I didn't feel comfortable with this so decided to go to the next town to the birthing centre. When the big day came, I phoned the midwife-led unit when I was having contractions every 6 minutes (very painful ones at that). I was asked if I wanted to come in or stay at home longer: it was nice to be given the choice and go with my judgement. Once the babysitter arrived we went in to the small cottage hospital, empty except one midwife and one assistant! All for me! Those of you who have given birth in a hospital know this is unheard of and many pregnant women mistakenly believe that the midwife will be with them right through. "I was encouraged to stay up out of the bed (again different to hospital, where you had to get on the bed as there was no room to move about), so I spent my labour upright or over the birthing ball, trying to encourage the baby to turn. I was as relaxed and focused as I was at home in my own surroundings and managed to breathe my way through the contractions. The midwife was not at all intrusive but would come the minute I called her. She was happy for me to take control and follow my lead. This positive experience resulted in the birth of my beautiful but big baby girl after only five hours of labour! "I was then given tea and toast and the healthcare assistant ran me a bath - with bubbles! This made me laugh because, after my second birth, I had to run my own bath and take myself through! They then moved me to a private room with a lovely big double bed. My husband was encouraged to stay, which was lovely, and we were left to bond with our beautiful new baby. I was allowed to stay as long as I felt comfortable, which was two days in the end. "I suffered with postnatal depression after my second delivery and I think that the relaxed quiet time I had to spend bonding with Georgia helped profusely to keep it away this time. I can't praise the midwife-led unit enough - and hope one day I too will be a midwife working in that environment. It epitomised all I believe a lovely calm birth should be and I can't wait to go again!" Hayley Mcauley (Moderator of the Babyworld Nov 05 antenatal club), 25, mum to Amelia Grace (6), Olivia (4) and Georgia (3 months), from Chelmsford. "The atmosphere in the place was so calm""I chose Kent and Canterbury Hospital's birthing centre, which is a midwife-led unit. It was a pleasant experience, even though I wasn't there long before I gave birth! I arrived at 2.05am and my daughter was born at 2.20am, so there wasn't time for any examinations or pain relief! It was a good job I went there, as I wouldn't have made it to the nearest maternity unit, which was at least a 25-minute drive away. I actually gave birth with one leg still in my trousers, kneeling on the floor, as I couldn't get back up again after bending down to take my shoes off! "I was the only lady at the unit for a couple of hours so I had a choice of room. I chose the double room, which had en suite facilities, and my husband was able to stay after I gave birth. The plan was to go home first thing in the morning but my blood pressure was a bit high so had to stay until the next morning. That was fine though - it was nice to have my own room so I could have as many visitors I liked. There were also tea and coffee making facilities, so my visitors could have a cuppa also! "The whole place could do with a lick of paint and a bit of updating, as it was still very hospital-like. But the staff were lovely and relaxed; they didn't seem to be running everywhere and had time to talk to me. The atmosphere in the whole place was a lot calmer than when I had my first daughter and I would recommend it to others. I think if I have any more children I will have a homebirth as my labours seem to get quicker each time: the first was six hours, the second not even two, so I might not make it anywhere next time!" Emma, mum to Eleanor (4) and Katie (7 months), from Sturry, nr Canterbury "There was so much care and attention and a real chance to get used to being a mum""When I first thought about the whole birthing lark I was really keen on a hospital, but when I went for the visit I found it so dark and dismal and scary that we immediately went to see our local midwife-led unit in Chipping Norton. After about 90 seconds, we both agreed that was where we wanted to go! "After about five hours of contractions, we headed over there on the advice of the midwife and I got my hands on gas and air (great stuff). I took advantage of the birthing pool and the atmosphere was great. It was pretty busy while we were there but we never felt like we were alone. "The downside was that, after 17 hours of contractions, I got stuck at about 7cm dilated so I had to be transferred to the John Radcliffe by ambulance, which took three hours to arrive. I then had the exact opposite of the labour and birth I wanted. They broke my waters, then really pushed me to have an epidural, then put me on a drip. After several hours of contractions and an hour of pushing, it was into the operating theatre to try forceps - then potentially a C-section. Fortunately, the forceps worked and Noah arrived some 27 hours after it all started! "I stayed at the hospital for eight hours, where my husband was kicked out and I couldn't hold my baby because I couldn't move from the drugs and shaking so much from shock, no one even suggested I try and feed my baby. We had the option of going back to the maternity unit for a few days and I was desperate to get out of the hospital. With all plans in place, they told me I needed to have a wee before they could release me. My feeble attempt was assessed as not good enough, so I drank a litre and a half of water and made damn well sure I had a good wee so they would let me out of the place! "We went back to Chipping Norton for five days and it was heaven. There was so much care and attention and a real chance to get used to being a mum. They were great at helping to establish breastfeeding, and I made a very good friend and fellow mum who I still see every week. We often reminisce about our time at Chipping Norton 17 months on." Jane,31, mum to Noah (18 months), from Witney "It was an extremely positive experience, and one that I would recommend to anyone""I had a wonderful experience in the birthing centre at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London. I was sure right from the moment I got pregnant that I wanted my birth experience to be as natural as possible.. and the thought of drips, inductions, Caesarians, episiotomies and ventouses absolutely terrified me. "After looking around the birthing centre, and then the delivery suite at the hospital, I was sure that I wanted to be in the former and not the latter, which was full of scary machines. The other massive advantage of the birthing centre was that I would give birth and stay in the same room for the whole time; unless the hospital was very full, I wouldn't have to go on the ward. There was a pull-out bed where my husband could stay… such a bonus in my opinion. "Thankfully, I had a very 'easy' labour and birth. I woke up in the morning with fairly regular contractions and, by the time I had had a bath and finished getting my bag ready, I was ready to go to hospital. "Now comes the only bad part. I arrived at the birthing centre only to be told that there were no midwives available. I wanted to cry. But after seeing how far in labour I was, they hastily found a midwife trainer - it couldn't really have been better. "I wanted a water birth, so the nurses ran a bath for me while they filled the pool. I spent two hours in the birthing pool; so lovely, listening to zero 7 and Air and other chill-out music, it was really quite heavenly, despite the pain. Unfortunately I found it hard to push in the water, so had to get out for delivery. I gave birth on a kind of big beanbag, with the midwife sitting on the floor in front of me. The baby was put straight to my breast, and the placenta was delivered soon after. "The midwife followed my birth plan to a T... she respected my wishes and even reminded me of some of the things I had written. I remember her asking where my homeopathic kit was, and me swearing at her - sod the homeopathic medicine! I had to vacate the pool room but was given a huge room with a private bathroom and an enormous beanbag on the floor, where I ended up sleeping with Amelie. My husband could stay the night with us, which meant that the first few hours of my baby's life were cosy, relaxed and calm, with the new family bonding together. "The only criticism would be that the food was foul and I would have like a bit more support with getting my daughter latched on. But all in all it was an extremely positive experience, and one that I would recommend to anyone, especially after hearing of so many awful experiences in normal hospitals." Jo Where to next?
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