Women's Hospital Dangerously Overloaded

[alioops]

Hoobs, The risk assesment sheet they attached to my pregnancy record with Em did have an option for women with a parity of 5 or more, and having such high parity would mean birth centre is not an option.

This is becoming a problem south of Adelaide. the 2 closest hospitals with L&D to us are up to 45 minutes away, in opposite directions. The south is growing VERY rapidly and the major hospital is already crowded, and the other option is a small country hospital. The public transport is not keeping up with the growth of the area either.

Too many, if the local hospital is not set up with things like neonates and the parents want to be sure they do have the right to ask for a hospital that has those options. I think the biggest problem is that when people are booking in, it is often the hypochondriac 1st timers that want to be told how to do everything, and are very uneducated, that are requesting the Obs when they dont need them.

A MW is perfectly able to asses when you need to see an OB, and in my experience, the MW did more at the checkup!!! The Ob that I saw felt my tum and did BP, didn't do a doppler, and basically said that was it. I was waiting for 45 minutes to be in the office for 5 minutes! The MW I had did home checkups and was very good. She made sure I understood everything that I wanted and went through my Birth plan with me. I got a lot more support in having the birth I wanted from the MW that from the Ob. And I did get the birth I wanted, even though it was 'against hospital policy' They just made sure that before they filled the bath I knew the risks associated and had done the research.

[Nai]

I thought Nai said she was going to the Private bit? TBH i'm not sure how all this works in Aus.

The RWH is a public hospital but it has a private section called Frances Perry House. I'm not sure how the public section works as I haven't been through it but I know people who have been through there as they are in the local area.

I have private health insurance which covers me for FPH. You don't need to be in the catchment area for that section as far as I'm aware. The main thing is if your OB has rights to work there or not. My OB's rooms are in the RWH so she does work out of the RWH and FPH.

[BellyBelly]

Apparently on the design plans they have expansion options for two floors. But they didn't go ahead with it. Which is what makes this all the more ridiculous.

[Nai]

Kelly, that is true - they decided against it based on historical birth data that indicated birth rates were declining. They didn't project future birth rates which are increasing. Just like the government - always looking at the past, never at the future and what we need going forward *sigh*