New to OB. Birthing options.

Hi all,

I am new to OB. Whilst I have been through the birthing thing plenty of times this is my first time in NZ and I am wondering if you guys might be able to help me sort out how the system works here.

I am currently living in the North Shore and am happy to go to a service either in the North Shore or Auckland.

From what I have figured so far there are three main options. Private midwife with home birth or hospital birth. Hospital birth with midwives and private OB. I have seen the web sites for National Women's and for AOC which from what I can tell if you go to National Women's you can use AOC. I have also seen the web site for Birthcare, which from what I can figure is a midwife only service and that there are no OBs that work there. I have also seen the web site for the North Shore hospital but I am not sure that cleared up too much for me.

So my question is, presuming that I will not be home birthing, for anyone that have used these facilities how does the whole midwife and OB thing work and what would you recommend? For anyone with more then one child that has used these facilities what is the policy on children being in the birthing room?

Many thanks

Hi there,
A lot also depends on the type of birth you would like & to also consider what your previous births were like when deciding on which route to go - midwife or ob.

As midwives get booked up quite quickly - it would be good to start calling around & perhaps setup an interview or 2? Do you have any names yet of midwives?

I've attended births at both North Shore & Waitakere & haven't seen children in the rooms - but not to say this is a hard & fast rule - your midwife would be able to guide you with hospital/birth centre policies.

Of course - having a homebirth would allow for your child/ren to be present at this birth. Lots of decisions :)

Any more questions - just post away :)   

Thanks for your responses.

I guess I will have to contact both venues to see what their policy is on the kids.

I am sure given some time it will become clear. It is almost like having our first again since we aren't from NZ. And I will have to think over a few things since we don't have any family here. In the past I haven't had particularly long labours, several hours at best, so prior planning is a good thing.

Once again, thank you all for your help.