I gave birth to my first daughter at QMH b/c no insurance. It was a rough experience, sort of like camping. The nurses were not helpful- very impatient and had little time to spend with you (probably not directly their fault as I think they are overworked) (the ladies below them, sort of like orderlies, were actually nicer, but spoke no english). I was induced b/c 1 week overdue. I was admitted at 2pm and passed all over the ward for various tests- husband had to wait in hallway. I was finally induced at 4pm with heavy contractions starting at 6pm- so from 2-6pm, husband was in the hallway for 4 hours (what few seats there were, were already taken. So he sat on the floor)- I popped out to update him on what was happening b/w tests. B/c husband was not allowed in the general ward before delivery, we walked around the parking lot for about 4 hours (7-11pm) until it was time for me to go to the delivery room (so no chance to use birth ball during this time). This was actually nice in a way b/c I could make as much noise as I wanted & the cold December air & constant walking seemed to lessen the pain. I would go back to the ward every so often to ask the nurse to check my dilation. We were in the delivery room for about 12 hours with nurses, midwives, etc. constantly coming in and out and turning lights on / off (my husband yelled at them at one point to stop turning the lights on as there was really no need to turn all the lights on in the room for what they were doing.). Husband slept on a chair with a bag of underpads for a pillow! During the pushing phase, I had about 10 strangers in my room watching us (they looked like orderlies, etc.- not doctors or midwives). I had a failed vacuum, successful forceps delivery- no one ever gave me an explanation for why the vacuum failed (I later found out, failed vacuum is highly unusual & usually happens b/c the doctor doesn't know how to use it correctly or it was not appropriate for the circumstances) After delivery, the nurses gave us 10 minutes with the baby to breastfeed then took her away for cleaning, etc. Brought her back, ordered husband out of room to get out of gown, put baby on my gurney and started rolling us out. Had to yell at them to stop so that I could call out to my husband and tell him they were taking me away (he was in the middle of changing out of the gown). He found me about 20 minutes later in a post-delivery ward (QMH has a couple of maternity wards on different floors), was allowed to stay for 5 minutes, then was kicked out. So, he basically only got to see our daughter for about 15 minutes in total after she was born and had to wait until the evening visiting hours to see her again. I was absolutely starving b/c they hadn't allowed me food for almost 12 hours (I had to eat some basic snacks I had brought with me and drink my own water- I couldn't get anyone's attention to bring water to the bed). The bathrooms were disgusting- always blood & urine on the toilet seats and walls (something that looked like feces too) and in the shower (I didn't even bother taking a shower- I tried to follow Carang's advice of getting in there in the morning but was unlucky- either already occupied or being cleaned). The nurses actually got angry with me a few times 1) b/c I hadn't filled in a sheet about baby's feeding/ pooping times 2) I hadn't filled in how much I was peeing (I had a catheter from the epidural)- of course, no one had told me I had to do these things either. Nurses would come up to me and try to poke me with needles without telling me what it was for. I also received an extra needle prick b/c one of the young doctors had accidently pricked herself with a needle that she had used on me. No one could tell me when the catheter would be taken out or when I could leave the hospital (not helpful when husband meeting us to take us home). When I was given the all clear to leave, we had to leave within 10 minutes b/c baby had been given an immunization that would be contagious to the un-immunized babies- of course, no one gave us any warning about this either. But I couldn't completely leave until I paid the bill- was told to go to the shroff office in another building (nice walk with an episiotomy), only to find out it had already closed for the day- you would think someone would remember this. I then had to come back to the hospital a few days later to settle the bill. All in all, I hated the experience- all I wanted to do was get out of there ASAP. Baby #2 is due in March and I'm booked into Adventist this time (no insurance again, but willing to pay the cash for a gentle, peaceful delivery with family around me for support). QMH is the place to be for emergencies, but for me, it was traumatic, especially being my first birth-. I think your experience there will depend on personality- I am a control freak, like predictability, etc. and you don't get that at QMH. You are basically part of an assembly / delivery line and are supposed to do what you are told without any questions and without any updates/ info. Doula at home is a great idea to minimize time in ward without husband, as well as private midwife to visit in the hospital/ at home to help with breastfeeding- The nurses at QMH told me to keep the baby on my breast as much as possible, so by the time I left, I had cracked nipples. Since learned that this advice was totally wrong! I had a lady from Annerley come to the flat about 2 days later to help baby latch on. Don't mean to put you off QMH entirely, just letting you know my experience. I probably would have gone there again knowing what I now know, but my husband has pushed for me to go private this time after seeing what I went through the first time...
).