"Midwife Clinics"

I recently moved to Port Hedland at 22 weeks pregnant and was booked in to see a Midwife at Outpatients during their clinic times. I attended this appointment, which was a fantastic 40 minute one on one appointment with a lovely midwife who was very informative.

I was told that I would be seeing a midwife every 2 weeks after that however received a call before my next appointment telling me they needed to reschedule as the midwives didn’t have clinic times that week, only to find out that the midwives were no longer granted clinical time.

From there I have been thrown around with a number of different antenatal doctors, who have been lovely, but my appointments have been rescheduled multiple times. The issue is that these appointments with the doctors have been focussed purely on the health of me and the baby and have not been informative in regards to prenatal care, labour and delivery and postnatal care as they just do not have enough time.

At 39 weeks pregnant, I expressed my concerns about going into the labour completely blind and only learning what I know from the internet. The doctor, who is an absolute gem and a huge advocate for the continuation of the midwife clinics, immediately referred me over to the Maternity Ward where I booked in to see a midwife the following week so all my questions about the birth could be answered. This appointment went for an hour and a half and she answered all my concerns and I feel so much more confident about going into labour and the process of birth. She also took me to see the birthing suites which really made it all less scary. An absolutely beautiful midwife, I feel worth her weight in gold. 

The point of this story is advocate for the continuation of the midwife clinics. In believe they are so incredibly important for future mothers and fathers. They provide in depth details about the whole process instead of just focusing on the health of the baby and mother. It also allows mothers to meet and form relationships with some of the midwives who could be there when the birth happens, which in my experience, makes for a much less scary environment. In my opinion, being a new mum, all you want is to be able to go through pregnancy and birth feeling confident and empowered and the midwife clinics help achieve that. I’m excited to be giving birth surrounded by such empowering and beautiful women.