This weekend we visited the place which is top of our list of birth locations. It seems early to be making these decisions at 15 weeks and to be honest we don’t need to make the decision yet at all, but it feels good to find somewhere which feels comfortable to us.
Before I went I tried to come up with a list of what we want and expect from the place we choose. This is the first time we’ve done this, so I’m sure our list is naïve but it’s our starting point.
1. Guaranteed access to birthing pool
2. Less than 1 hours’ drive from home
3. Encourage natural birth
4. Must have ‘rooming in’ after (rather than a baby nursery)
5. Must be clean!
6. A feeling of calm
7. Allow us to visit beforehand
8. Not too busy
9. No ‘hospital smell’
10. Allows food and hot drinks during labour
11. Less than 45mins from emergency hospital
12. Ward for extended stays has privacy and not really busy
We were really placed that the place we visited covered all of these criteria, in addition the birthing room, has a great, relaxing view over the water and we can have people to visit afterwards as often as we like. The staff were friendly and relaxed and asked us to come back again in a few months when we make our final decision.
I just have my fingers crossed to remain low risk because I’m not a fan of our local hospital which will be our high risk alternative. At the end of the day though as long as everyone is well at the end that’s what truly matters, but if there is any way to make the experience more positive I will try to go that route.
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