Homebirth General Discussion #10

Hi girls!

Ree: on the complaint front, i guess you are lucky in a way that it will be easy to keep to the facts: his response was inappropriate and showed a lack of professional integrity.

For the scan, what part is it that is making you uncomfortable? if it is the scan itself (rather than the diagnostic purpose) then you can opt instead for the maternal serum screening which can be done between 14-18 weeks. It can provide odds of risks of many chromosomal disorders etc without your baby being exposed to ultrasound.

AFM: had our first m/w appt yesterday :dance: ahhh so nice to see a familiar face at the door and have loads of hugs and laughs again. i almost broke her teeth with my shortbread...i let it burn in the oven when i was going through a serious nesting moment hahaha. so stoked as well because she told me that our local clinic do collaborative care with her so now we get medicare rebate on all ante and post-natal appts...sooo different to a couple of years ago i tell ya what!

Oh really Jen? Who is it?! :(

Ummm... It seems to be August :o

Getting stuff ready, but getting nowhere! Have had a good body clean out this morning.... I really hope it's not a sign of baby coming... Maybe something I ate?

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One of Sydney's most respected independent midwives, Sonja MacGregor will be attending a hearing tomorrow before the Nursing and Midwifery Professional Standards Committee.
The Health Care Complaints Commission lodged a complaint of unsatisfactory professional conduct against Ms Macgregor within the meaning of section 139B of the Health Practitioners National Law (National Law).
The Health Care Complaints Commission has recommended conditions be placed on Ms McGregor's registration. These conditions will mean that she will be unable to practice as a homebirth midwife for at least 2 years.
The Nursing and Midwifery Professional Standards Committee will hand down their decision tomorrow.
If you would like to attend tomorrow's hearing and support Sonja, it will be held at 477 Pitt St Sydney (just up from Central Station) and starts at 10am.

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this is on today. hoping things work out.

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lady_neon I am also hoping to birth through the CMWA, really need to finish my application and send it in! When did you find out that you were accepted, and when was your first appt?

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I received the paperwork/info pack etc in the post at around 12/13 weeks, then the midwife called me to have the first visit which was at 16 weeks. I applied at about 9 or 10 weeks I think.

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AFM: had our first m/w appt yesterday :dance: ahhh so nice to see a familiar face at the door and have loads of hugs and laughs again. i almost broke her teeth with my shortbread...i let it burn in the oven when i was going through a serious nesting moment hahaha. so stoked as well because she told me that our local clinic do collaborative care with her so now we get medicare rebate on all ante and post-natal appts...sooo different to a couple of years ago i tell ya what!

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Yep that's what I love about homebirth, except my amazing midwife left CMWA :( however I've met my new midwife and we hit it off, she seems great :)

If you could recommend just ONE favourite pregnancy/birth book, what would it be?

My midwife has a whole library for me to borrow from but I know if I get too many I'll probably be overwhelmed and read none :rofl:

Sonja? Oh no.... what on earth for, breathing?? GRRRR!!!

Tan, my belly has been off and on for a while too, for my first birth it was one of the first signs for me it was all on, but this time around my belly is more unsettled than usual. So not really going by that this time.

Aimz, so hard to pick just one and depends on the stage of your journey. What books HAVE you read? If you've read New Active Birth and The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth (bare, basic essentials I reckon!) then it might be time for some Ina May :)

I haven't read any, so will start with those!!

Rediscovering birth and Spiritual Midwifery were my two faves.

I am an auntie again! But despite being in the midwife program, my sister was induced at 12 days past EDD yesterday night and ended up with a c/s under GA very early this morning. Bub was 7 lbs and is in SCN. My sister saw her briefly after the op but hadn't had a cuddle by 1pm. :( Bub seems okay at least. I'm so worried about my sister though. What a rough start to motherhood!

Yet again the hospital system shows me exactly why I didn't want to go there. And why we need IMs like Sonja.

Sonja? O.O

Crap.... she's my midwife.

Mirimum: oh far out! I have everything crossed that she is allowed to continue practising :crossfingers:

Aimz: Ina May is really lovely to read (anything of hers lol). For more general pregnancy stuff (but still a bit more complimentary for alternative birth choices) try Sheila Kitzinger's "new pregnancy and childbirth" (think that's the title)...between those and my Frederick Leboyer "birth without violence" i find myself in the groove 100%

Oh no, Mirimum. I'll go stalk my FB middie friends to see what happened. Sonja was also our crossing supervisor's m/w at one of her four HBs.

Update: decision has been adjourned until further docs are supplied by both sides. Apparently it was Nepean Hospital that made the complaint when a HB couple transferred to hospital and went in a car, instead of her calling an ambulance. I don't think there was a negative outcome from the birth.

Oh #%*%}, SERIOUSLY?!!! Thats pretty damn petty. The hospital system stinks.

Nepean are known for being unsupportive of HBing and difficult to transferees generally.

Thanks Jen & Cassius.

Sonja told us about the transfer in the car incident (no names or anything of course!) when she was explaining what would happen if I needed to transfer; for some reason I never made the connection that there was legal action over it. Poor chick, what a stupid thing for the hospital to be upset over!

What the hell? Are you serious? That's pathetic. I hate society and what it's done to birth :( My doula explained with DD's birth that if we transferred and she was there, I'd have to go in an ambulance as she could potentially get in trouble driving us (we don't drive ourselves). Surely if the mother is in good enough health to go with (I assume) their partner in their own car then that's a personal choice?

I use to work at nepean. They are into a lot of intervention!! So many babies ended up in NICU 'just for observation' for four hours. Missing their mums and newborn snuggles! Then they needed formula etc etc etc :(

That is so messed up. Do they do this for every pregnant woman that comes through their doors with their husbands driving them in?