"Recent birth at the centre"

I recently gave birth through the Family Birth Centre (FBC) at King Edwards. As a part of this journey, our Midwife Georgia was outstanding and from Day 1 our appointments at the birth centre were fun, warm and welcoming. Both my partner and I were absolutely blown away by her in-depth knowledge, caring nature, calming personality, bubbly energy and her willingness to actively get to know us. She showed great professionalism in her organisational and communication skills for organising appointment times. The continuity of her care proved invaluable in our preparation for birth. The FBC model of being alongside but somewhat independent from a hospital was key to us feeling at home during the birth experience. We found hospitals to be intimidating and uncomfortable. Having multiple midwives who don’t really know you and who are not there through the whole journey just didn’t seem right for us. We love the fact the Birth centre feels like a home and that the care provided is personal both prior to and after birth.

We also found the midwives who helped during labour to be equally amazing. Whilst we had to birth at the main hospital due to an early water break, the fact that familiar midwives were our carers and helpers proved to be a big factor in our natural birth process. There was an increased level of comfort and trust from the continuity of care model, when decision making when things got tough. We could see that the midwives had a different temperament in the FBC compared to other main hospital staff who at times didn’t show the same level of familiarity when it came to birthing cues during our labour. We undoubtedly believe that the FBC model of care was the key, if not main reason we got through a natural birth process and the early few weeks with enjoyment, confidence and good memories. We believe that the FBC is not well known within our friends and family and have since been big advocates for this style of care as opposed to the traditional Hospital setting. We whole heartedly believe the independence of the FBC being alongside rather than inside a hospital is a unique and powerful approach to positive birthing experiences.