Finally I am back… and my baby is born :)

After 1 month away having my baby and also adapting with the new life I am now back to talk a bit about my experience as a new Mom after 30.

To return I want to talk a bit about the hospital and the care I had in Australia as It has been an amazing experience.

Being a Brazilian I always had the impression that private hospital was the only way to go, as in Brazil this is the reality, but in Australia the public system works very well.

In a public hospital you have 12options to choose from, which are: shared care (with GP) and Midwife Group and I will try to give my view of both.

-        Midwife Group – You will have all your consultations with Midwifes, or Obstetricians if necessary, at the hospital. On the day of your delivery you will have one of the midwifes that you did your consultations in the hospital.  You will get a special delivery area that looks like more like your bedroom than an actual hospital and the focus is to be as natural as possible as if you are having the baby at home. For sure you can still ask for extra analgesia and if necessary a C-section but the focus is to have it all natural and the hospital is your only point of contact.

-        GP shared care – You will have your consultation between a GP of your choice (they will give you a list of GP’s closer to you that are registered with them) and the other consultations will be in the hospital that you will have your delivery, with the midwifes. If you have any complications you will see the obstetrician instead of the midwife, but this will be defined according to your situation in the 1^st consultation. On the day of the delivery you will get any midwife/obstetrician that is on duty on the day.With the GP you will do your regular checkup like urine, blood, vaccination, baby heart rate and medications that you may need and with the hospital you will have more of the plans and in depth checkups.

In both options you will be asked to have ultrasounds that can be done in the hospital or in private clinics depending on their availability.

I know more about GP shared care as I choose this option and for me was ideal as I had more flexibility to book the GP the day I wanted and also it was great to see a familiar face all the time. On the delivery day I had a midwife that I met on that day but honestly they were all so good that it didn’t matter it was an amazing experience and a very quick one ( only 6 hours labor) but I will talk more about my labor and days of the hospital in the next post.

A Mom after 30 with a baby in her hands ;)

#momfter30 #newbaby #gpsharedcare #midwife #royalwomanhospital #rwh