Hi and welcome to BB. Congratulations on your pregnancy.

I moved to Townsville in Dec last year with DH. I can't tell you about the hospitals yet, you need to give me a couple of weeks and I will tell about the public!

From what I have heard, the Mater Hospital maternity unit is now in the old Wesley Hospital here. This is the private hospital. I have heard they have a very high c-section rate but don't know if that is emergency or elective c-sections. The staff are very good apparently but as I said, I'm not sure. I believe that if there is any concern about bubs etc, you will end up in the public hospital as they have the specialist facilities for bubs.

Regarding the public hospital, I'm due on Friday (08/08/08) so can't give you a birth experience but the midwives were awesome when we had a scare at about 28 weeks. Very supportive and helpful. Talked me through everything and let me take things at my own pace. Only problem is they triple-book antenatal visits (I'm doing shared care with a GP so if you do the care with the midwives then this may not apply to you!) as a lot of people don't turn up to their appointments. Sometimes though they all turn up so appointments can run very late. This shouldn't worry you too much as you will only need them for 6 weeks or so.

A number of people I have spoken to said both hospitals are great. There are obviously good and bad experiences but overwhelmingly the comments from people have been good for both.

Not much help so sorry. There are a couple of locals who have given birth in Townsville so they should be able to give you their experiences.

Oh and if you want some local ladies to chat with, we have a thread going in the Mothers Group forum called Townsville mums. Feel free to join in!