All scans and blood tests are optional- you don't HAVE to have any. Google all the tests that have been mentioned and decide for yourself what you want. Make sure the sites that you read are reliable. With my first DD I had my first appt with the midwives at 16 weeks and no other blood tests prior other than one to confirm the pregnancy. I chose not to have things that I didn't want or didn't agree with.
If you want a home and/or water birth you will need to do lots and lots of reading to inform yourself of what is required. There is the homebirth midwife association (in Fremantle I think) if you call them and have a chat to someone there. Getting books from the library and lots of internet reading will help also.
On the other hand if Albany is your nearest hospital you can chose to go there and have a midwife attend the birth and an ob if required. YOu won't be able to have a waterbirth at any hosp that I know of in WA. There is no real advantage to a Perth hosp over the Albany one and if you need to get there in a hurry is is actually a disadvantage. Unless you have relatives you can stay in Perth with in the final weeks?? Then again your DF may not be able to attend the birth.
If I were you I would go back to your GP or give him a call and make it clear that you are not aware of your options and can he please explain them to you. They see so many preg women they forget to give all the necessary details! And write down everything he says!
Jen27 - as for your hospital options ring your nearest hospital and ask to be put through to the maternity ward. You will be able to chat to a midwife and they will tell you about the options. Usually you have to be booked in by 20wks but this vary's from place to place. Some birth centres have waiting lists and obviously public hospitals you can just walk in off the street and they will deliver you but ideally it's best to book in. You can also do a tour of the maternity ward and birth suite and see what facilities they have. My hospital also offered an appointment at 36wks where we spoke to the midwife about our birth plan etc. In the public system you generally have the choice of midwifery care with an attending OB or GP shared care where you can see your GP for all of your appointments and just give birth at the hospital either with your GP or with the rosted OB.
You can give birth in a private hospital without insurance but it will cost upwards of $3000
Hope that is of some help and all the best with your pregnancy
you are supposed to have bloods at 8 weeks. My stupid doctor didn't do these either, and the hospital ended up having to do them at 20 weeks which they were unimpressed about. It's to check your iron levels, rubella status and soemthing else... white cells I think? can't remember. Anyways you will need to head back and get them done.
The blood test for rubella immunity also includes hiv, hep b?, varcella (chicken pox) immunity, blood type, rh +/- and i cant remember what else. If your m/c preg was not too long a go sometimes they don't repeat the bloodwork or only repeat some (i had a tests done @6wks preg and m/c when i got preg again about 3mths later she didn't bother repating most of the tests but have had them all again now preg with no.2)
Like other people have said ring your nearest hosp and do a tour, they may also have an early preg class which will cover a lot of your questions. All would have preg class for later about the birth etc but you may need to book in early as they can fill up. You will find out in these about facilities such if water birth is an option, medication options, breathing tech, other birthing interventions such as forssips, vacuum etc. At ours they had some to touch so if we needed them on the day it wasn't all new and scary.
If you live far away they may also have closer accomodation that is not actually in the hosp. I am in the territory and they get people from the communities to come into town about 3weeks prior to edd, if they don't have somewhere to stay they do have accomodation you can pay to use near the hosp but not actually in the hosp. But a lot of communities are unreachable by road in the wet so that might be why. Not sure what they would do for a 2hr drive. To me it seems a long way to have to travel during labour.
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