Hi - I'm sorry i didn't see your post earlier. I hope this advice is still of some benefit.
I was on the community midwives program for my first pregnancy, and it was wonderful. I had a midwife and a back-up midwife assigned to me, both which I had met with in my own home numerous times leading up to the labour. They brought all the necessary equipment required to check my blood pressure, baby's heartbeat, as well as take samples of blood, urine & a vaginal swab from the comfort of my own home so I never had to leave the house for an appointment - it was awesome.
Unfortunately my labour was extremely long (I only dialated 3cms in 3 days
), and my waters broke at the onset of labour. The Community Midwife program runs in conjnction with KEMH, and they have a policy with King Eddie that once a women's waters have broken, she has a total of 72 hours within which she must give birth, before needing to come into hospital due to the risk of infection.
It was quite evident by the third day that my body was not in a hurry to give birth, therefore I resigned myself to going into hospital. As it turned out, there was no infection present (as I had suspected) and bubba and I were both fine, but protocol is protocol. Luckily most women do not have labours as lengthy as mine!!
My midwife came with me to hospital, and was a constant source of guidance for me - explaining to me in detail all of the things they were asking of me, and making sure they had my informed consent about everything. Although the hospital midwives and doctors were all pleasant to me, I hated being in hospital and I think I would have felt quite pressured and powerless at times were it not for the consistency of having my personal midwife with me, coaching me through the experience. Best of all - her services were all FREE!! Plus she visited me in my home once a week until
DS was 10 weeks old!! I did not pay a cent for the entire birth process and had much greater continuity of care than my friends who chose Obs in private systems etc.
This time around I am booked in with the Family Birth Centre at KEMH. So far so good. I went there for an orientation some months back, and was happy with the premises. From 20 weeks they expect to see you for an appointment once a month, and from about 35 weeks I believe they see you weekly. They have a blue team and a red team of midwives, and upon entry you will be assigned to a team, and then only see members of that team for your appointments. Therefore when you come to labour, you will be familiar with the midwives present from your team (I believe there are 2 assigned to each birth unit at any given time). Standard length of stay is 24 hours - but keep in mind this is intended to follow a low-risk natural delivery, and the midwives visit you for 5 days following the birth to help out in your home - MUCH better in my opinion!! Plus this time we will have our
DS waiting for us, so we will just wanna get home to him with our new bub asap.
I have only had my 20 week appointment so far, and the midwife I consulted with was lovely, and was very accepting about all my requests - including no scans, delayed cord clamping, etc. I believe they are used to having women who are very passionate about natural childbirth and minimal intervention, so they are used to accomodating your desires.
Having said that, the requirements for 'qualifying' for entry to the birth centre are quite strict - no former c-sections, BMI of no more than 25, no elevated blood pressure, no multiple pregnancies, etc. I think they may also only take women under 35 - but you'd have to check that.
By ensuring that they only take on 'low-risk' women this enables them to avoid uneccessary intervention during labour and fullfill the women's birthing desires.
If I have a shorter labour this time around, I will be definitely be going for a home birth again with Community Midwives for the third.
I hope this helps somewhat!! Best of luck deciding.
Fremantle Community Midwives? KEMH birth centre? 
DD born December 2007
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