lisa thanks for enlightening me on that.... yes i would definitely say that it brought on a panic-situation and i did completely freak out and melt down when i was put in a shared room, so much so that i called my partner in tears at 7am the day after having a c-section asking him to pick me up and take me home.... the nurse manager came to see me and i just bawled hysterically like an idiot the whole time and said there is no way i can share a room and i want to go home, in the end they moved things around and i got my own room.... TBH i think i had post traumatic stress from the birth and took well over 8 months to recover emotionally, but i didn't know it at the time...
i suppose i could go see my doctor beforehand and explain all my anxieties with getting pregnant again in relation to the birth and see what becomes of it...
i'm not even at the stage of TTC but i'm already looking for solutions to the shared room thing, so i suppose it is causing me more anxiety than it might others...
Hi Emma
I'm glad the info may be of help to you.If it took you that long to recover it sounds like you had some major issues going on, best to try to avoid that again if possible.
When I went to book in to the hospital I spoke to the head of Maternity and told her my Dr. had requested I have a private room and the reasons for it. She wrote out instructions for the nursing staff that are to be placed in the front of my chart. So as soon as they open my chart they will see "must have single room due to medical reasons".
I also plan on ringing the hospital the day before my ceasar and make sure that they have made the appropriate arrangements. At least that way I can go in with a calm mind.
Even if the hospital does mess things up on the day, if you have your Dr's support you can confidently tell them that he or she has requested a single room for medical reasons (no need to go into detail if you don't want to) that way they are pretty much under obligation to rearrange the rooming situation for you.If your Dr. won't be present for the delivery you could ask for a letter to take with you just in case.
There is a big difference between those who just want a single room because it's nicer and those who have a genuine emotional or physical need. I think most nursing staff would be accommodating if they realise your reasons are genuine. Could you imagine the backlash that could occur if they put someone with a severe emotional disorder into a situation that was only going to aggravate it! I don't think anyone would want to do that to a new mum anyway.
Hope you can work out the health fund thing.
Kind Regards
Lisa B.
Sorry Emma, I only just looked in here again. The hosp in Berwick is called St John of God. It's been there for years (lots of my friends were born there) but has been renovated in the past 2 years. Like I said, only private rooms on the maternity ward!
As for health insurance, I'm with NIB and they have a 12 month waiting period from the date you take out the insurance to your EDD. I took out my insurance on 8 Dec 07, which means if bubs was due before 8 Dec 08, I wouldn't have been covered. However, with bubs due in Jan 09, I am covered no matter what - even if bubs is born before 8 Dec 08. Hope that made sense!
I work in a private hosp in post natal in Melb. We have mostly private rooms with a couple of shared rooms. The shared rooms are used only if the private are all full and if you are in a shared room the liklihood is that it would be for less than 24 hours as the realisation is that as a private pt u expect a private room.
Also I recently was a doula for a couple from interstate who had a bad first experience and so decided to come to Melb a few weeks before bub was due and stayed with family. We were in contact by phone and email prior to them coming down and then met up when they got here. The birth was fantastic, OB and middies were wonderful, it was brilliant to be involved in it all. If you would like further info PM me and I will pass it on to you.
Someone I know of had a bad experience at St John of God Berwick recently. She discharged herself early because of it. She chose not to breastfeed (it was her second and she had her reasons for it) and once she told the midwives that they basically ignored her. There weren't good facilities for bottle preparation either. It was easier for her to just go home. Just thought I'd mention it in case you are thinking of going there & are not intending to BF.
As others have said, some private hospitals have all private rooms, others don't. I gave birth publicly and had a shared room for the first 3 days & it actually gave me entertainment when I was bored - I could hear everything that went on behind the curtain. I think it's not such a bad experience to share a room when you are feeling well, particularly if your bub is not in the room with you like if they are in SCU. You somehow don't feel quite so alone as what you do in a private room. I had a private room for my final 2 days and actually preferred the shared room as I did not feel isolated once the visitors had gone home.
Aren't you worried about such a long car trip in labour? There's no way known I'd go any further than my local hossy if I had to do it again. That ten minute drive was agony.
Hi.....
i dont know a whole lot about the private insurance thing BUT i do know with medibank private they will cover you if you fall preggas in the 12month wait as long as ur bub is due after your 12 month waiting period is up....
we started our policy in jan this year and tey told me so lond as i was due after jan09 i would be covered.....
might not be the same with all companies....
i am looking at going to northpark private in bundoora which is prob about 2hrs from u and they are all private rooms.....
hope ive helped a little!!!
sam
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