"Wonderful midwives at Box Hill Hospital."

There was not one midwife that I met that I didn't like, they were all great at explaining the whole process, and did it in a wonderful manner.

I had two issues with the whole process:

1. Each and every time I went to the hospital I met with a different doctor or midwife and each time I had to explain my story afresh, it would be great to just have one or two doctors or midwives that one meets with throughout the whole process.

2. My other issue was that throughout the time I met with the doctors and midwives I met with one doctor near the end of the pregnancy that I was truly concerned about. This particular doctor was a concern - we met with her because I had a low lying placenta, and I had been sent to do an extra ultrasound at week 36 in order to see if by any chance my placenta had moved. In my previous meeting Dr Stephanie had tentatively booked me in for a caesarean section, to be confirmed or cancelled after my ultrasound and meeting with this particular doctor. At the appointment the doctor didn't seem to know what she was doing. She was about to get me to do the GHD test, when in fact I'd completed the test 4 weeks prior and the results were in my file, after I explained that and we confirmed my placenta had moved she agreed that we should cancel the caesarean. Two days after the appointment I received a confirmation letter for the caesarean in her name – it seemed to me that she had completely messed up the one thing she was meant to do. In my case it didn't matter because I knew what was going on, but it worries me what could happen to people who don't speak English well, or are unsure of themselves and think they made a mistake when in fact it may have been the doctor that made a mistake. I am happy to put in a formal complaint if you need it. The other issue I had with her was her terrible bed side manners. Throughout my pregnancy I had asked for a water birth, and the midwives had explained that as long I was still on the green path and as long as on the night of the birth there was a qualified midwife available I could do it, but when I mentioned it to her, she said, in a rather rude tone, 'you'll have to see on the night and only if there is a qualified midwife available, we can't have one on call just for you'. I know it is the same explanation that the midwives gave me, but the tone was just wrong.

On a much more positive note I wanted to add that each and every one of the midwives I met with were great and really looked after me, from Jenny who was the qualified water birth midwife to Jenny who looked after me in the morning after the birth of my daughter, to Ket who gave me great tips about breast feeding, to Jane and Eloise who came to the house following the birth of my baby, to Bree and Andrea who I met with and were great at explaining everything when there was a chance I would have to do a caesarean. There are many more whose names I don't remember but they were all amazing. It was a wonderful experience overall, and I loved having these wonderful ladies look after me. For them and a good system I am very thankful.