iv decided..

to have a doula for my next birth!!! yay!!!
after thinking about it since sophie was born we have decided that its the way togo!!!
now to decide on who im going to use!!

So, um...do you have more or less than 9 months to decide Jols? :p

Great decision, I didn't have a doula, but I had a student midwife who's also a good friend, having her again this time, and it's such a great thing! :D

hehe nelle no im not pregnant but want to have someone lined up and ready to book when the time comes!!!

Good idea. Would you consider the Angliss Family Birthing Suite too? I found that atmosphere went a long way towards the type of birth I wanted too.

too scared to go in there!!!

Why? I really loved it...

LOL AJP you have lots of women to choose from in BB! Melbourne is the Doula capital.

I have had one experience at the Angliss and it didn't live up to what I heard... the (apparently) birth centre midwife insisted on 4 hourly exams and told my client that she was lucky she didn't get one on entry!!!! Pffft!!!!

Oh wow, I LOVED River's birth, the bath was ready for me when I got there, she asked to have a feel to try and see what possy the baby was in when we got there, it hurt too much to lay down, and she said not to worry about it then, I got in the bath and stayed there!
Then again, perhaps the difference was made by my birth support partners, and the fact that I zoned out and didn't notice anyone anyway.
And perhaps I didn't get 4 hourly exams cos I was only there 3 hours before Riv was born! :p

I really liked the atmosphere though, not clinical or anything. :)

ETA: Kelly, 4 hourly doesn't sound like much? What do they mean by exams? Don't many places do monitoring heaps more regularly? (not saying that's right, but just saying that 4 hourly doesn't sound as bad as many other places?)

kelly i was in the labour ward and only had internals prior pain relief, well that i can remember of anyway!!! :P, didnt even have one when induced. mmmmm 4 hoursly doenst sound like minimal intervention to me!

NELLE did you have any??

not good that it wasnt what it was made to be :(

KELLY how can i contact you??

I don't remember having any internals done...but then, I had Riv 3 hours after we got there (they kept encouraging us to stay home as long as we could when we called). So perhaps it was pretty obvious I was progressing...

I'll ask Rans or Cobes though, Cobes'll be able to tell me what happened. :)

as far as i know i had the two when i had pain relief then one when they found i was fully dialated!

Yup 4 hourly vaginal exams. I think it was just a bad time of year - I know many wonderful midwives work there, including independent midwives, we just happened to get the ones we did. When I asked if she could say no to the exams she got crappy with me and said she didn't know if she could refuse because it was hospital policy and how they did it there. GRRR. See not many women say no or know their rights so they are used to just taking over.

AJP, my email is my first name then bellybelly dot com dot au.

thanks Kel have emailed you!!

Good move Jols...had one for Jasmine and was def the best thing i ever done 2nd time round!