"Antenatal, Birthing and Postnatal Experience"

I was fortunate enough to come under the care of the Townsville Birth Centre for my pregnancy, birth and after care with my first baby. From 15 weeks when I entered into the care of Bec at the Townsville Birth Centre I could not have felt more safe, confident, respected and cared for. Being a first time mum it was all new. I was keen to have an intervention free and non medicalised experience of pregnancy and birth and this model of care very much enables that. Every appointment I felt empowered, well informed and listened to. Bec made my husband feel involved in all aspects of the pregnancy and made it a family experience, even including my Mum in some consultations. When I would engage with other mums to be or attend information sessions at TTH I felt so fortunate to be under TBC care as I had so much more information about the journey I was facing than most of them who were under either GP shared care or Midwifery Group Practice.

Whilst I did have to transfer to the Birth Suite in the final hour of my delivery, I did so with confidence knowing that 'my' midwife was coming with me, I had her there as my advocate and I knew she would keep me informed in an honest and respectful way through whatever needed to happen up there. I am also very grateful to Dr Sally who allowed me to continue to proceed with a regular delivery and did not instigate a c-section.

Post birth the care of Bec and the other midwives was fabulous. The home visits were invaluable and continuing that connection with someone who had followed your entire pregnancy made it very special. I felt comfortable asking any questions and sharing my concerns knowing that I could trust and was respected by my clinician.

Having that one point of contact for any concerns was invaluable. Being ill on holidays over Christmas and being able to contact a midwife to get advice on whether I should seek further care was helpful and reassuring. I was never made to feel like a pest or a worry wart.

My only complaint of my experience with TTH was the poor aftercare I received through the short stay I had on the Maternity Ward and follow up review with the gynaecology team. I found there was a general lack of interest in me on the Maternity Ward which I felt was due to me being a Birth Centre client. I had multiple midwives coming in and offering various snippets of advice but not really taking time to listen to my questions or how I was feeling. At times the attitudes were quite condescending. I was glad to be able to leave the ward and return home after only 9 hours there.

My experience with the gynae registrar and consultant was rather stressful. I was called the wrong name through my entire consult, the registrar leaned on me whilst discussing my review as I lay on the bed and I was generally made to feel as though I was not really worthy of a gynae review as my issue wasn't serious enough. All in all, it was a very dis-empowering and stressful interaction with the health service.

Townsville Hospital should however be very proud of their Birth Centre. It is an amazing model of care and I wish more women could have access to it. I would recommend it to anyone. I want to have more babies just to have this wonderful experience again!

Bec absolutely made our pregnancy and birth experience amazing and we are so, so grateful for her. Her professionalism, experience, compassion, knowledge and skill are incredibly impressive and we hope to one day go on this journey with her again.