Well, there seem to be a lot of divided opinions on this, and I think there's a very good reason for that. I gave birth in a public hospital (Queen Mary) in March and I thought it was brilliant. However, you have to do your research! Be very clear about what kind of birth you want. I wanted my partner to be with me for the entire time, I wanted to keep upright, I wanted to use water for pain relief and have no medical intervention. I also wanted my boyfriend to cut the cord, and to take pictures of my newborn straight away. Well, the public hospitals offer none of these, but with a bit of careful planning we got everything we wanted.
First of all, we hired a private midwife to come to our flat when I went into labour so I could stay at home in the bath for as long as possible (I managed until I was almost fully dilated). There are all sorts of packages available so it doesn't have to be expensive - check out
www.amidwife.com for details.
Secondly I made a birth plan and I got it signed by a senior doctor and had copies put in my medical notes. It's usual for all first-time mums to have an episiotomy, and you are expected to sign a consent form when you arrive at hospital, which I did. But when the time came and I was having trouble pushing the baby out, because I'd already got consent on my birth plan they let me stay on my feet for this bit. Gravity did the trick and I didn't need any intervention.
Lastly, you have to be a bit cheeky. My boyfriend was told to go to the waiting room and he flatly refused. He only had to say no once, there was no argument, and they let him stay with me.
The staff were lovely and were happy for my boyfriend to cut the cord. They even took photos for us.
The wards are busy, but then so are the public wards at the private hospitals. I was only there for two nights and I slept easily as I'm sure most people do after giving birth. My baby stayed by my bed the whole time and there was 24 hour breastfeeding support.
Plus the whole bill came to less than $300.
My only complaint was the visiting hours (limited to three hours a day, two people at a time) and the food - the food was dreadful. Luckily I had packed loads of snacks in my hospital bag.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is do your research. If you want to go to hospital as soon as labour starts then you will have to put up with being separated from your partner and going onto a general labour ward, which I imagine is rather like a production line. It all depends on what you want.
Good luck, Kerys x
ps, if you want any more info i'm on
[email protected]
