Aussie Antenatal Classes & Being a Public Patient

[elvisgirl]

Hi Aussies,
I'm new to Australia, & to becoming a mum for that matter! I arrived 12wks pregnant & have made it to 17wks now although I have a high risk pregnancy due to a large fibroid (which I knew about before). I've also been having bleeding on & off, which may be related.

I will have to go as a public patient in the Aussie healthcare system & frankly am pretty worried given I'm classed as high risk & all the negative publicity surrounding healthcare at the moment, particularly in NSW. My first hospital appt was not very encouraging as the Doppler they were using kept cutting out which was extremely stressful for me while they were trying to find the baby's heartbeat as you can imagine!
Has anyone experienced the public system for antenatal care & childbirth? Was it ok??

Also, are there any alternatives to the hospital's antenatal classes? I've been trying to look for something like the NCT but can't seem to find out anything here.

Thanks for any info

[lispy]

Hi, I went public and I had a few worries about whether I would have been better paying but in the end, they know what they're doing, at the end of the day you wont remember anything bad. i would never go private now! Little tip, if you need another appointment (for your sanity) ring up and make them book you in, they will do it even if they make out that they can't. Be very confident in your appointments and say that you're concerned and would prefer more monitoring if you want.

[neuroticlady]

Hello elvisgirl, and welcome to Australia. I've been here nearly seven years but like you am new to becoming a mum (am currently five and a half months preg) and like you I have been hitting a brick wall in terms of coming up with an NCT equivalent, which I've found very frustrating.

I'm sure some of the expat girls who've had babies will be able to provide much more help than me, but the feedback I seem to be getting is that there is really great support once you've had the baby, particularly via your nearest Early Childhood Centre where they'll set you up with a mothers group etc, but beforehand and whilst pregnant there isn't much in the way of support groups/alternatives to hospital antenatal classes. Like I said, I could be wrong about that and it might just be the area I'm living in, so keep asking!

I'm currently searching out antenatal yoga classes and possibly a doula who can guide me through a system I don't really understand and offer support, and I'm going to introduce myself at our Early Childhood Centre - even though it's so early my child is still a mere bump just to see if there is anything else out there that I'm somehow missing out on.

I'm afraid I can't give you any advice re the public system for care and childbirth, other than to say a friend had a baby via the public system a few years ago and apart from the fact she was on a ward and not in a private room she had just the same care I will get, right down to the same obstetrician! Obviously you're high risk which means you need to feel you're being well looked after so as lispy suggests I think you just have to be a pushy patient, and to be honest my experience of both public and private healthcare here is that there is more opportunity for you to be pushy and get what you feel you need under the Australian system. So don't let the fact that you're new here intimidate you into silence: Aussies are a very straight talking and direct bunch and us Brits sometimes could do well to take a leaf out of their book! Best of luck with everything.

[eidsvold]

I have had two children public - and had no hassles. They were very supportive in terms of risks etc with both pregnancies. That was here in QLD though.

I attended some antenatal classes 2nd time round as I did not attend any first time round and had had an emergency section.

IF you are at all concerned - push for further appts, do not be afraid to ask about anything you don't understand. Do not leave the consultation until you are satisified with everything that has gone on.

I actually did what is called shared care where most of my appts were with a GP and I saw the consultant a few times throughout my pregnancy - probably more the 2nd time after my hassles with dd1 than the third time. I made sure I was happy with the consultation before I left the hospital. Luckily I have a fab GP who I preferred to seeing a consultant. If you have not seen your named consultant - push for an appt with them. I know with dd2 that plenty of people were wanting to schedule an elective c-section right from the start whereas I was wanting to try a vbac - it was only when I pushed to see my named consultant that I was able to discuss the situation to my satisfaction.

I am not aware of anything like the NCT here in Aus - that is not to say it does not exist.

There is the australian breastfeeding assoc for later but they may have contacts that you can seek out for childbirth.

I know a friend of mine was part of a mothers' group that arose out of antenatal classes - think it was provided by the community childcare nurses at our community health centre.

TBH in my antenatal group - one woman and I had exactly the same consultant - she hardly saw him even though she was a private patient. I think we saw him the same amount of time and she paid a fortune for the privilege.

[PeppaPigsMum]

hi there. just a quick post to say i had my daughter as a public patient in Sydney 16 weeks ago, and the care was excellent. i've also heard a lot of positive stories from others who've had their children using public healthcare. try not to worry - people always love to highlight the negatives of any system.

i wasn't aware of any alternative to hospital antenatal classes, but i believe you are welcome to attend Australian Breastfeeding Association coffee mornings when you are pregnant. might be worth a look?

good luck with your pregnancy - i hope your experience is as good as mine was.

[lispy]

Yeah, just to stress again, if you're worried write down EVERY little doubt and check them off when you're with the doctor. I went in with my list one day (i kept going home and remembering what i forgot to ask) and it was great, the dr just went through them one by one. I was told to come back a few weeks later (can't remember exactly) but once home felt like it was too long a wait so rang up and basically said i'd like to come in next week. I had to wait on the day but i did see the dr!

[elvisgirl]

Thanks for the reassurance. I was feeling a bit at sea as I haven't been allocated midwife appts, only to see the doctor for my antenatal appts & I don't want to ask the doctor some more of the routine questions. I will push to get a midwife appt later on though I think.
Thanks again

[SueW]

Is this any good to you?

I know an NCT teacher who lives in Perth and still takes an interest in maternity services so has contacts around Oz - I can contact her if you like.

One of the Big Cheeses in antenatal education is Australian - Andrea Robertson - and a fair amount of the research around men receiving antenatal education I have read recently was done there so it would be shocking if there isn't any!

[superloopy]

Hi elvisgirl,

I too moved from the UK to Aust when I was 12 wks preg (Bad idea-very tiring moving to the other side of the world!!).

I have a 3yo DD who I had in London on the NHS and my experiences here have been very positive and so much nicer.

I initially saw a GP who refered me to an Ob/Gyn but said if I didn't like him to come back and she would find me someone else. The Ob/gyn is very good and I am now having fortnightly appnts as I'm now 33wks.

I have also had a booking in apnt at the hospital (which I chose out of 3 in the area) where I am having this baby, with a midwife (a man one which I wasn't expecting). I had a tour of the ward and the process and proceedures were explained.

The delivery rooms have queen sized beds and DH is welcome to stay with me for as many nights as I am there.

All of this is with the public system. So far this has been quite different to the midwife lead ante natal care I had in the UK but 100x better.

I am seeing the same consultant for every appnt, I have had options at every point. I haven't felt the need for ante natal classes as I've done it all before but I can't imagine that the hospitals classes wouldn't be helpful.

The NHS classes I had were kind boring and I don't feel like I got anything out of them but I did meet 2 really good friends which I found the most helpful.

Please ignore the media hype because that is all it is. Sometimes bad things happen but I feel so much more confident having a baby here on the public system than on the NHS in the UK.

Maybe you could call the maternity unit you will be using and ask for a tour and time to speak to a midwife. Or go back to your GP with questions. My hospital have given me the ward number and said I can call anytime with any questions I have. Where are you?? I am in Melbourne.

I hope this essay is useful to you, I think that it is my longest post ever!!

[elvisgirl]

Your hospital sounds great superloopy. I think I will get to go round mine during the antenatal course. Good luck with the male midwife! I am in Sydney, the southern end which seems way out in the sticks so far! But lots of mums around with pushchairs looking superfit.

Thanks ladies for links to the Childbirth & Breastfeeding associations. They were hidden away as I hadn't been able to unearth anything, not even the Breastfeeding association's classes I find are being held at my hospital! I also found out there is a local group so that might be handy later on.