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Emmecat 
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 Topic: Birthing at Wellington hospital
Posted: 05 January 2009 at 3:54pm |
Hi all you Wellington ladies
Have any of you birthed at Wellington hospital or are planning to?
I wanted a home birth but for various reasons am not going to with #1, so instead I found a mw who is experienced and supportive of home birth AND hospital births and am so far pleased with her. She told me there was a new birthing centre opening at Wgtn hospital in March so by the time our little girl is ready to come out, it should be up and running well. Apparently it is much bigger wth heaps more labour pools and rooms with ensuites etc. Sounded good I thought.
Anyway, cut to today and some woman came into work and we started chatting about birth etc and she asked where I was having the baby. I told her Wgtn hospital and boy you should've seen her response!! Huge sighs, rolling eyes and then she said 'Oh. Oh dear. Really? It's well known that Wgtn hospital is one of the worst places in the WORLD to have a baby. Really terrible'...etc etc!!  She ranted for a bit and I asked her how she knew that and apparently it is 'common knowledge'. l also asked her if she was a midwife as she was begining to piss me off a little by this stage as her comments weren't overly helpful, and she replied no, not a mw, but she'd been at lots of friends births etc.
Anyway, I know she and a lot of people I encounter through my job are fairly left wing and 'hippy'...like me lol...but I thought her comments were a bit rough and am now wondering how justified they are?
Any enlightenment appreciated.....
Edited by Emmecat
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TraceyA
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 4:08pm |
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*huggs* hun. Don't forget the old saying - Negative advice is more about the person giving it then anything else. Considering she couldn't give you any specific info I'd take it with a barrel of salt. You should go and have a tour of the hospital, and ask them about things like their C-section rate etc.
I've also been told that it's less about the hospital and more about your midwife, so if you have one that does homebirth and hospital birth you sound like you have your bases covered pretty well. She is not likely to let things get too "hospitalised" on you. One thing you might want to think about is how long it takes to get from your house to the hospital (including during peek hours) and then perhaps plan to do most of the "work" at home so that you can spend as little time at the hospital as possible. Talk to your MW about all your options.
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caliandjack
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 4:20pm |
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Dh's mum works at Wellington hospital, not maternity, but she's sick of people going on about how bad it is, when actually they have some really good people there.
There was an incident of a baby been sent home hours after birth and subsequently dying, however the outcome of the inquest has never been reported, which may suggest it wasn't the hospital at fault.
Wellington Hospital services are pretty large community, I'm sure they are as good as any other dhb.
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Emmecat
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 4:26pm |
It's weird actually, cos every time I have been there (and there's ben a few gynae issues as well as my m/c in March), I honestly couldn't fault them. I thought the staff were excellent and very caring, which is why I was so suprised this woman started banging on about them so negatively. I'm almost positive Wgtn hospital is not the 'worst place in the world' to have a baby. I can think of LOTS of places I wouldn't want to be giving birth in right now...Iran, Zimbabwe, Somalia....etc etc 
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kebakat
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 4:37pm |
Not to do with wellys but don't believe what everyone says.
When I told a work mate who my mw was with Daniel she said "oh really, you have heard the bad stories about her aye, there was a baby that died under her care blah blah blah". I chose to ignore this and go with my instincts.
Do the same. If you feel it sounds great and you check it out and it looks great then go with your instincts 
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lisa85
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 4:54pm |
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Totally random question but your midwifes name isn't Fiona by any chance I know its highly unlikely but DH's mum is a MW in Wellys and is fully into home births and all natural stuff she has also worked for the hospital.
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Margs B
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 5:07pm |
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We are having bubs in Wellington hospital and it should be up and running by mid Feb. I am waiting to have a tour with our OB's midwifes who are excitied about the new maternity wing. I think it more the person looking after you than the hospital.
However my friend gave birth in Nov at the old hospital and didn't say anything about it.
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MrsMojo
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 5:10pm |
I would ignore that person!
I am very into natural births but early on DH told me he wouldn't be comfortable with a home birth so I planned on birthing at the Kenepuru birthing unit but I have a bleeding disorder and so my midwife referred me to some specialists who said I had to birth at Wellington hospital because I am highrisk for a blood transfusion. At the old hospital they had 2 birthing rooms which mothers who want natural births can use (big rooms with baths etc) but I wasn't even allowed to use one of those because it was too far from theater. So on the day I used a normal delivery room at Wellington hospital.
I had a great birth! It was just me, my midwife, her student, my DH and my mum in the room for the majority of the birth (a nurse came in briefly because I needed a leur inserted just in case and I was tended to by a hospital mw until mine got there). Even with 5 of us in the room it wasn't at all cramped and we were left to have the natural birth I wanted but with hospital staff on hand in case things went awry. Plus we stayed in the birthing room for 3 hours after the birth so I could have a looooong shower and DH could cuddle with his daughter before I was taken up to the maternity ward.
I also found the staff on the maternity ward lovely, my only gripe after being transferred up there was due to the other mothers (one in particular who spent most of her time complaining - even after 11:30pm which is when I got up there).
I'm gearing up for another birth there in June this year and my SIL (who is an NICU nurse at Wellington hospital) has told me that the birthing rooms are going to be lovely.
I wonder if the lady who has bad experiences through the hospital was at births where they had independant midwives because IMO the mw you have is a lot more important than the location that you birth at and I know the hospital mws can be rushed off their feet at times whereas an independant will spend her time focussing on you.
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Kazzle
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 5:38pm |
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yeah all i hear about wellington birthing unit is how bad it is, but that tends to come from those who dont have kids.....like Jo im due in June and i cant wait to see the new rooms....
Besides if you have the right support person/people as long as you are happy and safe it doesnt matter where you give birth
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katie1
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 6:04pm |
I had my first baby in Wellington and I thought the staff in the deliverey area were awesome. I got one of the birthing suites with a pool etc but things didn't go quickly and I got transfered so I could have an epidural and be monitored. The staff were excellent. The ob who was on was so lovely as was the anaethatist and hospital midwives. I couldn't have had better care.
Once I was transfered upstairs after having the baby it wasn't as great - busy etc but still fine.
It really isn't as bad as people say.
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Emmecat
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Posted: 05 January 2009 at 7:09pm |
Thanks for your replies ladies....I kinda figured this might've been a case of a real 'home-birther' trying to convert me! Ha little does she know I would love to try a home birth, but being negative about the place I've chosen to birth my daughter is not the way to go about it!
I"m also excted about the new birthing suites, they should be fab!
Lisa- no my mw isn't Fiona, but there certainly does seem to be a lot of midwives in the J'ville/Tawa/Porirua areas who are keen on home births.Good on them!
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canuckmama
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 5:27am |
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I went for the tour of the hospital a good couple weeks ago and was pretty horrified to tell the truth, was really dirty and was a bit shocked to see the condition of it all, but after meeting some of the staff, I felt pretty confident about everyone working there. Not so much the place I suppose, as long as baby is healthy.
So if you get into the new one....PERFECT!
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jaycee
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 8:56am |
I had both AMy & Sophie at the old birthing unit in Wellington and it was fine - sureit is not the Hilton but it is a lot better than some places. A friend told me about her SIL (they had babies on the same day but on opposit sides of the world) and the hospital in London sounded horrific .
With Amy we stayed in Ward 14 for one night and it was fine too - a 4 bed room with 3 of us in there, but I had a straight forward birth.
With Sophie I would have loved to have one of the big rooms but there was no time as she arrived 15 mins after we got there  . As they were very busy upstairs they were quite happy to transfer us over to Keneperu for 2 night - if you get the chance to go, it is very nice.
People love to share their horror stories to do with pregnancy and birth, not sure why. I just tended to nod and let my eyes glaze over. Good news about the new birthing unit - will look forward to it when we decide it is time for #3 
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RubyG
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 9:20am |
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I think the experience will be as good as your LMC is - at the end of the day its just a place to have the baby - if you trust your midwife I am sure you will be fine!
My midwife told me there are no 4 bed rooms anymore - just one and two beds - yay! I have to say i am glad about the new area being open in time for us - the old area sounds a bit yuck
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Emmecat
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 9:25am |
Oh I didn't realise I could be transferred to Keneperu after the birth? I'm actually a lot closer to there anyway but my mw said it is a part time hospital..whatever that means? I assumed it's only opened for business during working hours lol.
I don't want to give birth in a dirty chaotic place at all ...but maybe this new birthing centre will be really flash...my mw seemed to be suitably impressed with it anyway!
Argh I didn't even think about this stuff when I got pg.....I 'd still be keenish for a home birth but DP totally against it and when I asked my GP about it, he said 'would you take out your tonsils at home?'...I replied no because I didn't know how to, but that giving birth was probably slightly different. He laughed and said not really. I was a little suprised by his comment actually as he's normally v good and quite open to holistic and alternative medicine alot of the time. hmmmm maybe he knows something I don't....ike maybe I'm too old at 34 to have first bubba at home!
Edited by Emmecat
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MrsMojo
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 9:46am |
I'd be pissed off with your doc too. Birth is not a medical procedure! Farmers don't take their animals to the vets to give birth because it is simply a natural event (whereas extracting tonsils isn't, otherwise humankind would have been doing it since the start).
Kenepuru is a community hospital but from what I know the birthing centre is seperate from the hospital (my BIL had surgery there recently and I asked my SIL who's a nurse why I wasn't allowed to birth there if they could do surgeries and she said it's because they're seperate). You could check with them if you would like to consider using Kenepuru but I wouldn't expect any birthing centre is available 24/7 since babies can be born at anytime of the day.
Otherwise definitely let your midwife know you're keen to transfer there after the birth (according to my AN instructor it's nickname is Hotel Kene so I guess it's pretty nice, although I just went home after my first baby so haven't stayed there).
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caitlynsmygirl
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 12:00pm |
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I have to laugh, it seems everywhere you get people who say "oh such and such hospital is awful " , in Auckland I would hear the same thing about say , Middlemore .
Never mind that Middlemore has a new what do you call it , NICU unit with brand new incubators that my boss and the Mayor of Manukau (whos not my boss but my boss's best friend) fundraised for.
But people still have to tell you that places are AWFUL !!! I told someone I was having baby at Botany , a birthing unit near us , and she said "oh but that will be AWFUL ! you can't have pain relief there " big deal i replied, I had no pain relief with C either, and you know what ? as long as Im not in Somalia, having a baby come out of my genitally mutilated vagina , which is sewn up again without anesthetic straight after birth, thats FINE BY ME !
Your mw sounds like she knows what shes on about , and yay , new rooms, they will be really nice, dont doubt that .
As for your GP, what a twit, ,C's stepmum had a homebirth for her first (wanted it for her second but labour wasn't progressing ) and it went absolutely fine, she loved it .
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MumsyMoo
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 12:39pm |
My little girl was born in Wellington, and then we transferred out to Kenepuru.
I live in Tawa and it was far more desirable for all parties involved for me to stay there.
Wellington Hospitals birthing unit isn't amazing, but there's nothing wrong with it.
Eden was born last January, and there's about 3 birthing suites that are fully self-contained, with baths etc.
Otherwise you're in a big theatre type room (for those who have had epidurals etc, needing forceps delivery)
And then there's tiny little rooms, which to be honest, I wouldn't particularly like to be in, they're smaller than a single ward
Eden was an Emergency C-Sect (came as a bit of a shock as I wasn't even in labour... Long story, lol) but the care I received whilst there was amazing.
They're incredibly efficient and the doctors really do what's in the best interest of you and your baby.
I was lucky enough to get a single room, but truth be told - asides from having your own private bathroom - there's no real advantage. The walls are paper thin and even though you can close the door/curtain, there's still no real privacy.
It probably didn't help that I had the very first room on the maternity ward, so I had to put up with the chaotic foot traffic all day. And you really have no choice but to leave your door open if you want to breath, the room gets so stuffy! Although, I was there right in the middle of Summer.
I ended up having my phone stolen (brand new phone, might I add) and that was it for me... Noone was willing to help me out, and it was pretty obvious that it was the woman who came in to take my bloods who stole it - Nobody else EVER entered the room, and seems a tad coincidental that it disappeared right after she came in....... Anyways, that's all besides the point.
But yeah, as I've said... If you can get transferred out to Kene, definitely do it. The rooms are absolutely fantastic - Big, spacious open rooms, and you're more than likely to receive a private room too. They have french doors that open out to a courtyard area, and there's TV's and all sorts of stuff that make it so much more comfortable than Wellington.
Their midwives are also really lovely, and unlike Wellington, they actually really encourage Husbands/Fiances/Partners to be with you, which is so fantastic.
I think I may have rambled on enough... But anyhow.
I had Margaret Hadley as my Midwife and she was amazing... I miss her so much! She's also very pro Home Birth etc.
Ok, ok, ok... I should stop now.
But if you can, most certainly get transferred to Kene for post-natal care. I can guarantee you won't regret it!
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RubyG
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 1:00pm |
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I have heard you can have your baby at Kene but there are no specialists working there - so if a Dr is needed you are in an ambulance to Welly. If your midwife thinks things are straitforward you should look into it. I was told by a friend who had her baby there how great it was.
I asked if I could have our baby there but my specialist only works from Wellington.
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CuriousG
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Posted: 06 January 2009 at 1:03pm |
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The only gripe I had about the birthing unit was that it was old and outdated decor. But you know what, that won't matter for you because its gonna be new! The staff were just lovely. People don't like one place or another for various reasons and you can go for a tour prior to giving birth there anyway.
I will be having my next one there too and really look forward to seeing the new area!
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Birthing at Wellington hospital
My wee girl is the love and light of my life! 
