"Well cared for by midwives"

As first-time parents, we were enrolled in the Midwifery Group Practice program (MGP) through Broome Hospital. We were delighted when we met our midwife Tegan. Throughout the course of the pregnancy, Tegan was only a phone call away and she was there to answer any questions and concerns we had. Tegan is a wonderful midwife and we can’t recommend the MGP program enough.

On the night we went into labour, Tegan met with us in the maternity ward at the Broome Hospital Campus. As previously discussed with Tegan she knew what our wishes were during labour, which was based on a hypnobirthing class during pregnancy. Our first preference was to have a water birth however due to lack of facilities at Broome Hospital this was not an option. I note that improvement to the facilities in the birth suite to accommodate water births would be very beneficial in giving women a choice in their births, which is something that I believe is very important. In saying this, despite not being able to have a water birth, the birth process and labour was still amazing, I couldn’t fault it at all. The care we received from all the midwives and nurses was wonderful.

Once our baby was born, they needed assistance with their breathing and was taken to the waiting paediatrician and was put on to a breathing machine and subsequently spent a few days in the nursery. The process of birthing the placenta had started and Tegan knew we wanted this to occur naturally. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and I was given an injection to birth the placenta due to my bleeding.

After 5 nights in hospital, we were allowed to come home.

Once we were home our midwife Tegan/Alyce supported us. Being a first-time mother this was a difficult time for us, adjusting to being parents, my body healing, dealing with the emotional side of what happened after birth (read story here) and settling back into home was not easy. We did feel supported by Tegan.