Overweight and needing a hospital to deliver my baby

I had my 12 week scan on Wednesday and everything is going well with the baby, the measurements are all in the normal range and the baby was active which is fantastic.

After my scan i had an appointment with my OB. She asked me what kind of birth i wanted whether it would be a ceasar or vaginal, of course i opted for the vaginal birth as i had a ceaser with my son over 10 years ago and it's a long recovery.

She then informed me that she just went through a very distressing time with another one of her mother's to be who weighed 170kg and the local hospital wouldn't take her on as a patient due to her weight. I don't weigh that much but i do weigh 150kg.:wall: This means i have to shop around for a hospital and OB who are willing to take me on for the birth of my baby. Im can understand that i am a high risk patient, but living in such a remote area means i have to travel long long distances. My current OB is upset about the outcome and wants to share care me until the birth. It's just very frustrating.

Does anyone know any ideas on who i could contact or even get advice on the best direction to take ??? I know i am still early stages in my pregnancy and still have 6 months or less to go, but this is something you have to take care of sooner more than later.

Hi Wombles

I think in your situation I'd give your current ob and/or hospitals a call and try to get some more information.

For instance, d'you know what the cut-off weight is for your local hospital? Would you consider seeing a dietician to see if you could manage your weight down to that level? I'm not suggesting a radical weigh-loss diet btw, but it may be helpful to see what a dietician has to say.

Otherwise, perhaps find out what hospital did the other woman go to?

Glad that your pregnancy is going so well and sorry that you have this stress to deal with at the moment.

Hi there,

I cant believe that a hospital would turn away a pregnant patient, based on weight. That is just radiculous, in fact it should be more of a reason that a hospital should take a patient on especially if they have a high risk pregnancy.
Geez, what do they expect you to do, give birth in the bush or something???.

I would be really angry, and look into the WHYS!???. Them saying because your overweight is not a good enough answer. The hospital should have the right facilities to provide what ever is needed. Talk about being discriminative.

Sorry for my rant, but i sympathise with you. Good luck

Mel

well i am 170kg and having number 6 i guess lucky for me i acn have my baby at our local hospital but i must say i can only have him at the big one jhh and not at belmont like i wanted but they have told me this is because of the number of babies i have had ,i dont know what to say i have come across 1 very rude doctor whom i have laid a formal complaint against because while yes i am very over weight my pregnancy is very uncomplicated and so were all my others and yes i was very over weight for them as well,and i didn't like hearing this doctor say that i was the hugest thing he had ever seen,how whould i have felt if the hospital refused to treat me not real sure about that one but i would be looking into it see what there reasons are maybe if they cant cope with you if you needed a c/s but i was assesed for that as well and even though that is the last thing i want they have told me if they have to they can do a c/s but jhh is the major hospital up here so i guess that helps,i really think you need to talk to the hospital and find were they stand on this and take it from there were is the nearest large hospital to you.
best of luck try not to let them get you down us bigger mums are just as intitaled to good care and respect as everyone else.

I hear you on the hospitals babe!!!!!

I used to live in NSW prior to moving to VIC in Oct 06. my hospital i was going to and booked in for was Bowral public. Now im sure some people have heard of Bowral. Its not a huge place, nor is the hospital, but they took me on with my weight but asked that i see their anethasist (sp?) to speak about options if be offered if a c/s was needed and epidurals etc.

However, DH and i moved to VIC and all hell broke loose with hossys down here. They are sooo damn strict on BMI's and in order to go to the hospital i wanted to i needed to be 35 and under. At the time i was 40 so classed as high risk.

I was given 2 hospitals to choose from to deliver DD1. One was 25 mins drive the other 60 mins. Both times on a good day and not have to travel on the Monash which is the worst freeway in history in peak hour IMO!!

I picked the 25 mins one. My labour was straight forward, no complications.

I then had the same problem with DD2 only i knew that it was going to be the case and picked the same hospital.

I asked why i was called a high risk and the reason i was given was:

'If we had to perform a c-section, administer epidural, give a spinal block or GA then because you are carrying more tissue it can be harder to give the epidural effectively'.

However...if i was to have normal surgery for anything other then a baby...im not a high risk and can go to any hospital i choose??

I dont under stand that one!!

Just because we are big does NOT mean we cant birth babies the same as any skinny mum.

Hugs babe.... :)

Sorry i don't have any advice for you I just wanted to say I hope you find a hospital you are comfortable with and that you have a wonderful, well supported birthing time! :)

First and foremost thankyou for your replies.:) I have made an appointment to see the dietician regarding a better eating plan to manage my weight during my pregnancy. I know i will gain weight whilst pregnant but having a better eating plan will help in preventing accessive weight gain, at the moment food always looks so damn good lol. :rolleyes: and working in a restaurant doesn't help either :doh:

The girl i was talking about ended up going to the Royal Women's hospital in Melbourne. This hospital is approximately a 6 hour drive from where i live :wall:I live in a small country town in the Riverina, NSW, called Hay. I would say the closest major hospital to us would be in Wagga which is around a 3 hour drive. The distance really isn't the problem, the thing that really worries me is if i go into labour and have to travel these distances with the chance of having the baby on the side of the road or running into complications.

I can totally understand their concern. With my first son (whom is turning 11 on the 9th of May) i ran into complications 6 weeks before he was born, i suffered from pre-clampsia and hypertension. Benjamin was born at the Griffith Base Hospital by c-section. I was overweight when i was pregnant with him, though not as heavy as i am now. Even though this pregnancy has started off different to when i was pregnant with Ben, i still have to take into consideration the complication i went through at the end of my pregnancy the first time. They told me that my next pregnancy could be an easy one, so i am hoping that this is the case and things will progress easily. (hoping this all makes sence lol)

My OB in Deniliquin which is an hour south of Hay, is looking into some hospitals and OB's who will take me on. "Apparently" alot of the local hospitals that are considered major around this area don't like to take on pregnant patients that exceed 140kg.

Opppsss i just realised the time, need to get my son up and ready for school, i hope i haven't babbled on to much, and thankyou for all your comments, i will add more later in the day. once again thankyou. :)

Good on you Wombles for seeing a dietician. If you haven't already, it might be worth ringing your ob again and telling her that's what you're doing - your local hospitals with the 140kg cut-off might be a lot more amenable if they know you're actively trying to manage your weight.

For what it's worth, I was overweight when I got pregnant but only put on 6kg and a week following the birth was 5kg less than when I got pregnant. And that was without any exercise which I couldn't do because I developed an unstable pelvis which made even walking difficult. I have another friend who was also overweight and she hasn't put on any weight even though she is now 22 weeks pregnant - with twins! Yet another friend lost 10kg by the end of her pregnancy. So eating sensibly can work wonders.

So I think do what you can and carry on looking into all the options. But most of all try not to stress too much and enjoy your pregnancy.

Well after lengthy discussions between my husband and i we have decided to go to the Royal Woman's Hospital in Melbourne :D

I have 2 work collegue's that had 1 of their babies there and highly recommended it to me and i also looked on their website and feel very comfortable and relaxed about delivering my baby there. We looked at the pro's and con's of choosing a hospital slightly closer, but if i ran into complications during the delivery i would be transfered to melbourne anyway, or if i chose to take a different direction like Griffith or Wagga Wagga, i would be transfered to either Sydney or Canberra, so Melbourne is alot closer to home :)

I am still seeing the dietician to monitor my weight progress and gain a better eating plan, so hopefully everything will run smoothly until my delivery date.

Great news Wombles!!

I was booked into RWH for DD1 but was to far to drive, hence why we then booked into Monash instead.

All the best with the dietician :)

Just wanted to say good on you for the decisions you have made. My local hossy never made mention about my weight when I was pg with DD that was until I was transferred to a bigger hossy then I was told by a rather pleasant young Dr that I was going to die if I didn't lose weight and that and I quote "wouldn't want my baby to grow up without a mummy". Overweight/obese women should be encouraged through their pg's to opt for a healthier lifestyle and not be brandished and targeted by weight biased Dr's and hospital staff. Everyone has the right to parenthood.



Kimbaz- OMG I used to live in the S/Highlands before I moved to QLD. Went to BHS and haunted the youth centre lol