Royal Womens Hospital vs Monash birth centre?

[Yarrawin]

Hi all,

So I'm in a little bit of a dilemma at the moment. I need to book myself into a hospital, and have decided to go public. Initially I was going private but due to cost i have changed my mind, sonow I need to choose a hospital.

I really love the idea of a birth centre, but Monash is half an hour away from where I live and we don't have a car. The Royal Womens is only 15 minutes away so a bit more doable. That said, we will have to move before baby comes (think tiny apartment and four flights of stairs with no lift) and we have NO idea where we'll be moving to - we don't know melbourne at all, having only recently moved here. We've only just signed a lease here a couple of months ago, so we won't be moving until very late in my pregnancy (not ideal but can't be helped).

I just called RWH and tried to ask them some questions but the woman on the phone wasn't particularly pleasant and I got really nervous! I like the idea of being able to have a warm bath for pain relief etc - i have no idea if I will be able to do that in a hospital and when I tried to ask the woman on the other end of the phone just told me to send them a referral and then tried to get me off the phone. Tbh it put me a bit off RWH!

I would really, really appreciate it if anyone who has had experiences with either of these hospitals, and particularly the monash birth centre, could share their experiences with me. I'm finding this very confusing and I want to make sure that I make the best decision. I want to do all I can to have a positive birth experience!

Thanks in advance

[kyliemcleod]

Hi

Im currently booked into Monash birth centre- 14 weeks 6 days. I have had my first ante-natal appointment. i was told they have 2 private rooms with double beds were u can stay over night with your partner provided no other woman labour if they do ur moved to another private room again double bed. you can also give birth in the water tub or use it to labour in. there is no epi but they offer other meds. you can only stay between 6-24 hours and mid wifes come to the home after u give birth.

ante natal classes start at 30 weeks

i hope i have helped u.

[dstar]

Monash allows you to have a warm bath experience as long as the baby is not in distress & the bath is available. i had a baby in monash earlier this year, overall all the midwives were very good and during labour you have a midwife with u >90% of the time. they may have to duck out for a little bit but most of the time there is one with u all the time. we were v happy with the public hospital service at Monash

[HollyM]

Hi there - sorry I didn't see this thread sooner.

I had DS at the Monash Birth Centre in Feb this year. I cannot fault the centre or the midwives. I never had to wait long at the antenatal appointments (usually 5, 10 minutes) and the antenatal classes (4) were really informative. When I gave birth, the midwife I had was so supportive and pretty much took a backseat and just encouraged me as I also had my own independent midwife who was doing the more hands-on stuff (checking baby's heart rate, physically supporting me, etc). They have a large bath to labour and give birth in if that's what you'd like. You have your own private room with double bed so your partner can stay. Your get your own fridge, kettle and other kitchen stuff umm what else...

Oh one annoying thing is that there are no set visiting hours so people can come visit at any time! Make sure you let the midwives know if you don't feel up to visitors so they can knock them back for you. I had people turning up at all hours and I was exhausted! lol.

Also, if you're lucky and they have no births the second day you're there, you may be able to stay an extra night - we did!

If you are wanting an epi you will need to be transfered. The birth centre is pretty much for a normal delivery without intervention.

PM me if you want any other info!