"Regional hospital maternity experience"

I recently gave birth to my third child at the Narrogin Regional Hospital. My other two children are young teenagers so it had been a while since I’d experienced birth and the initial postpartum stage. My third child is my partner’s first child so this was all a new experience for them.

We were very fortunate that I went into labour naturally in the early hours of the morning which meant we could have a ‘business hours’ baby at Narrogin. From a staffing perspective, I believe this was ideal as I had gone into labour the previous Friday night, for example, we would have had to travel to and deliver in Perth or Bunbury due to staffing shortages at Narrogin.

As we live 70km away from Narrogin and due to the fact I needed IV antibiotics ideally four hours before birthing we headed to the hospital at about mid-morning (contractions were fairly strong and close together at this stage).

We were met by midwives Ruth and Cathy. Having Ruth on shift was ideal as she is qualified to conduct water births and this was ideally what I wanted. The labour and birthing process at Narrogin Hospital for us on that day I could not fault. I felt supported and my partner as a first-time father felt supported and educated. My pain was well managed with gas and water. I was seen to in a timely manner by Dr Peter who had the job of suturing my second-degree tear. I was very confident in both Ruth and Dr Peter's skills and had the labour not been as incident-free as it was, I have great faith they could have handled any issue competently and confidently.

However, this absolute satisfaction with the process at Narrogin Regional Hospital then hit a sour point. Having birthed close to midnight and sutured an hour later (standard due to the water birth) we were then informed we would be discharged home later that day. I was asked if that was alright. I said I would have preferred to stay one night. I was informed that wasn’t an option. We hadn’t even taken the vehicle that has the baby seat in it as it was more comfortable to be in labour in the vehicle that didn’t have the seat. So my partner, who had just witnessed his first child being born had to drive the 140km round trip home to swap vehicles so we could be discharged at a time that we felt suited the hospital's staffing.

This time after the birth is such a beautiful time to bond as a family but we could not do that due to having to manage the logistics of the surprise of having to get home that same day. In that time I felt I was hurriedly dealt with for all the important pre-discharge things so boxes could be ticked before we were sent out. I was also encouraged to have a shower and to make sure I wee enough so we could go home. The shower head fell off as I tried to wash away a clot I passed on the bathroom floor in my haste to urinate enough for them. So no I didn’t have a shower, and no I still didn’t want to go home that day. And yes I would have liked something more to eat than a corned beef sandwich but no that couldn’t be done either.

To be a few hours postpartum and have all the education thrown at you that policy and protocols dictate means that to me, not much of this info sinks in. The box can be ticked that it’s been provided but the actual proposed aim of patient comprehension is way off the mark in my opinion. How on earth can an exhausted woman on a high of hormones who was fuelled by one corned beef sandwich actually take on board all the info about safe sleeping, breastfeeding, perineal suture site care and pelvic floor info?

So as it was my partner returned, the baby checks were done and we were booted out the door at about 6pm. It was dark. It was drizzly. We had the car seat installed but in the dark drizzle of the hospital car park lights, we made sure the seatbelts fitted baby and then headed the 70km trip home. My partner worried the whole time as he was not expecting to take his brand new baby and his significantly stitched up and tired partner home.

I realise some people love the idea of an early discharge. However, in my opinion, this should be an option, not a requirement. The only benefit we found of going home early was to get a much-needed feed. So our birthing experience was absolutely wonderful and could not be faulted. It was just such a shame that the follow-up care didn’t match.

However, it must be noted that the outpatient care from Child Health Nurse, Holly and Physio, Lee has been wonderful and has filled in the gaps that were left by the hasty attempt at education given on the day of discharge.