"Broome MGP, maternity ward and surgery"

I had my first child at Broome Hospital earlier this year and used the Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) program.

My experiences with MGP and the hospital were absolutely above expectation thanks to the efforts of every single staff member involved. Midwives, doctors, surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists, catering staff and orderlies were all brilliant, and amazingly managed to make a hospital feel like a really welcoming environment. Apologies for not naming everyone - the list would be long!

The best aspect of both MGP and the maternity ward was that all staff were approachable, and having a couple of key contacts through MGP was invaluable. I felt confident before and after my baby was born to pick up the phone at any time and ask for help or advice. I left the hospital confident in breastfeeding, bathing, swaddling and comfortable that I would cope, and be supported if I needed help.

On returning a few weeks later for unrelated (surprise) surgery I was again looked after by the maternity staff when on the ward which was really reassuring in what was a pretty challenging time with a newborn. The ED and surgical teams were again all brilliant, so while I felt pretty ordinary I was completely relaxed that I'd be taken care of.

Thanks to all, I really appreciate the support. 

Improvements?

I was lucky enough to have a room to myself so my partner could stay overnight which was hugely valuable in the first day/s with a newborn. The hospital could really benefit from some more single rooms to enable this to happen for more people. 

And access to some real coffee would be nice! Perhaps the hospital could team up with one of the Indigenous social enterprises around town to have a cart on site selling coffee and healthy snacks? My extended family would have loved this when visiting.