So apart from the consultant appointment going really crap and having spend an hour telling me nothing, he did say one thing that really stuck out.... There are no baths on labour ward at the RVI!!!Now I've always planned an open birth plan, in that plan for both hospital and home and decide on the day where I will feel most comfortable. There's lots of reasons I may want to go in on the day, from child care, to snow, to just not feeling right. And I think that it would be counter productive to stay at home if I don't feel right about it on the day.
I kind of had a little plan in my head for hospital that I'd get a CTG for half an hour, show them it was ok, then head for the bath until I was really starting to crack on. I'm sure the midwife would be have a little CTG VBAC talk at me, but if the bath was right there en suite and the CTG was fine it would be easy to talk her round. But lack of baths at the RVI totally buggers that up, and will make it much harder to be in control. I feel I'd be stuck on the bed or at furthest on the ball next to the bed with CTG because there wouldn't be anywhere else to go.
So after a bit of research I want to transfer my care to another hospital, the QE in Gateshead. Its a smaller unit, they have 5 out of 6 rooms ensuite and are closer to my inlaws for child care for LO.
But I'm not sure how to transfer and not sure what happened to the duty of care of home birth if I do. My midwife, who would be part of the team doing my home birth work out of the RVI. And if I had a home birth and had an emergency it would be the RVI that I would be blue lighted to.
Would I be able to book to both hospitals? The consultant made it quite clear that my home birth will never be supported and I would only get a midwife because of the duty of care. Would my community midwives still have that duty of care if I was booked to another hospital, or would that duty of care then fall to the midwives at the QE, who would then not come out cos its too far?
And another question, when you are home birthing agaisnt medical advise do you still get the birth pack and gas and air delivered in advance, or are you totally alone until you go into labour and make the call refusing to come in? (cos thats how the consultant made it sound).
snap!
That was nearly 11 years ago though absolutely shocking it's not changed by now!!
im really quite in shock as we have been calling the bump Leo for four months convinced it was a boy! we´ve named her Cleo and she arrived at exactly 2pm EST (8pm GMT) at home after 19 hours of drug free labour! contractions started the night of 2nd august, each night i had about 2 or 3 hours then they would go. then the night of the 4th they started building and at 7pm were regular. I will do a proper birth story when I get time and some energy, Im proud i acheived my homebirth but I really did struggle on the inside with fear of pushing (terrible fear she would be stuck so i was scared to start pushing) and think I delayed everything with my fear! all doing ok now but im shattered!
