[Caroline]

July 2007

We are now the proud parents of a beautiful little baby girl and I have the great privilege of spending most of my day singing nursery rhymes and gurgling in baby language. I’ll spare you the boring details because like most new mothers I can carry on for hours about the various shades of her pooh and her gorgeous smile.

Having a baby in the UK was a much better experience than I expected it to be. The local medical centre pretty much guided me as to what I could expect. They gave me a blue plastic folder to keep all the documents in and I had to bring it with every time I had an appointment – and there were lots of appointments.

The midwife phoned me regularly to make appointments to see me at our home. We discussed a ‘birth plan’ and she asked me where and how I would want to deliver. I have never had one of those before and it was quite something answering all the questions but we eventually got there. Not all counties have the same procedure so there will be slight variations depending which county one lives in but I was allowed to chose which hospital I wanted to deliver in.

The NHS is currently promoting home births and water births. Apparently they feel the need to promote a more ‘natural’ environment for child birth – somehow I feel it has more to do with saving money and less to do with ‘a calming environment’ for the birth. The midwife tried hard to persuade me that this was the way to go, I assured her that I was having none of that and the more drugs the better. Considering that this was my third time around - she found it hard to argue with me. However, she did seem to forget my instructions on a few occasions so I consequently reminded her every time I saw her that I wanted an epidural and a hospital bed – not necessarily in that order. I confess – I don’t do childbirth well.

The midwife came to our house throughout my pregnancy which really was nice, especially towards the end when I was the size of a baby elephant on two legs. She took blood samples and other tests and then phoned me with the results later. The NHS covered one scan and if we wanted more then we had to do it privately.

When it was time for the delivery the labour ward was great and so were the midwives there. I loved the way they dimmed the lights during delivery and then put her straight into my arms. Hubby and I were then left alone with our little bundle of joy for about half an hour before they came to clean up. After the delivery they moved us across to the maternity ward which was quite full. It had the basics so I am not complaining but I was eager to get home the next day. Apparently the norm is for women who have had an epidural to stay 24 hours but women who do no drugs go home after a few hours. Most of the mothers left soon after the delivery unless they had reason to stay for longer.

The follow up treatment is great, the midwife and health sister came to our house to do the post natal check ups and weigh the baby etc. If you are feeling insecure or suffering from post natal depression they provide support and visit you more often. We were visited once a week for a month and then they asked if I felt well enough to visit the medical center for the weekly check ups.

It was a good experience and I always felt that I was in safe hands.

[Dedré]

Sound very comforting to me , Caroline. Definitely an experience to recommend it seems? I am looking so forward to being a mom one day. I understand in SA if you want all of that support, it will cost you dearly!

[Caroline]

Dedré, on Apr 18 2008, 05:29 PM, said:

Sound very comforting to me , Caroline. Definitely an experience to recommend it seems? I am looking so forward to being a mom one day. I understand in SA if you want all of that support, it will cost you dearly!

I had one of my children in SA (1997) and yes it was expensive because I decided to go private but then again there's always medical aid. I'm not sure about the government hospitals in SA.

The NHS is not perfect but keep yourself informed and chose a hospital with a good rep and you should have a good experience. I did - at times I got impatient with the midwives because they kept fussing so much around me. But their intentions were good.

[Dedré]

Caroline, on Apr 19 2008, 11:59 AM, said:

But their intentions were good.

Rather that, I guess than none at all hey?! I understand from the Michael Moore documentary ?Sicco..., that in France, the government will supply you with a house help, that will even clean and do the cooking for you if you need it, for some time after birth... Sounds nice!