"Bunbury Regional Hospital/Maternity"

MGP Birth

I gave birth to my first baby at the end of September. We were very fortunate to be apart of the Midwifery Group Practice program. This program was fantastic in ensuring that we had continuity of care throughout pregnancy and both of our midwives - Claire and Jo were very supportive and informative and very respectful of our choices. We also completed the Positive Birth Program and Fourth Trimester class offered by WACHS and delivered by midwives from the hospital. The Positive Birth Program was a great tool in preparing us for labour and our options and the midwives who delivered the materials were very informative and it was beneficial to see a range of positive birth experiences.

When it came time for delivery my waters broke before labour, increasing the risk of infection to baby. Claire and Dr Andrea were responsive to our wishes for minimal intervention if possible and as baby was fine were open to us waiting another 24 hours prior to an induction. Being able to be listened to and supported by our care providers, with risks explained to us without making us feel scared was instrumental in making what could have been an overwhelming and scary experience positive. 

In the end an induction was not needed, although my labour ended up being a little longer than anyone initially thought. We could not be more grateful for the care we received from the maternity team that day - Dr Rachel was very patient and helpful, the hospital midwives - Anna and Brinley alongside our MGP midwife Claire were instrumental in creating a positive birth experience for us. As first time parents they were patient and supportive and we felt as though they were always acting in our best interests.

We stayed on the ward for monitoring for two days and we were also well supported there with feeding and learning how to care for baby before going home from the hospital midwives.