Florence experienced all of the following at the Centre:
Our first experience at the birthing centre was antenatal classes. The parents room was a great place for these to be held.
Annabelle was born at birthing unit and we were so grateful for the space to birth in and the care from the birthing unit midwives.
After a long labour the duty midwife came in to support my midwife, suggesting positions that might help and finally Annabelle arrived. I was briefly transferred to Hutt hospital for stitches, we found the stay in hospital stressful for the baby - she barely slept and cried A LOT and therefore very stressful for us. I had lost 800mls of blood and the food provided at the hospital was not enough to help me get my strength up, even with my partner and parents bringing me extra snacks.
Once we transferred back the birthing centre it was like a cone of silence settled over us, our baby relaxed so we could finally relax too, we were so well cared for and rested we decided to go home after the first night!
The meals were amazing, and I even got up in the middle of the night to help myself to some fruit, I couldn’t believe how hungry I was having lost blood and with breastfeeding Annabelle but the birthing centre were prepared for that in ways the hospital wasn’t. They provided nutritious filling meals which were edible (unlike the chicken that was served for dinner in the hospital which I couldn’t even force down). The breastfeeding support was amazing and even just having a comfortable chair to sit in to breastfeed was awesome.
One of the best parts about the birthing centre was how welcome my partner was vs the hospital that barely had a place for him to sit.
After lockdown we started going to a weekly support group run by Liora in the parents room. We continued to do this for 3 school terms, this was absolutely amazing as we made great friends and had so much support and advice from Liora and the other mums. Liora encouraged me to continue the fight with our GP about Annabelle’s possible allergies (no obvious signs) as she could see that something was causing Annabelle pain.
Without the birthing unit this group would not have had anywhere to meet.
We are so grateful to the birthing unit to the support that we received during the birth
- Antenatal Classes
- Labour
- Birth
- Postnatal Stay with nutritious, plentiful food
- Breastfeeding Support
- Lactation Consultant Drop-In
Our first experience at the birthing centre was antenatal classes. The parents room was a great place for these to be held.
Annabelle was born at birthing unit and we were so grateful for the space to birth in and the care from the birthing unit midwives.
After a long labour the duty midwife came in to support my midwife, suggesting positions that might help and finally Annabelle arrived. I was briefly transferred to Hutt hospital for stitches, we found the stay in hospital stressful for the baby - she barely slept and cried A LOT and therefore very stressful for us. I had lost 800mls of blood and the food provided at the hospital was not enough to help me get my strength up, even with my partner and parents bringing me extra snacks.
Once we transferred back the birthing centre it was like a cone of silence settled over us, our baby relaxed so we could finally relax too, we were so well cared for and rested we decided to go home after the first night!
The meals were amazing, and I even got up in the middle of the night to help myself to some fruit, I couldn’t believe how hungry I was having lost blood and with breastfeeding Annabelle but the birthing centre were prepared for that in ways the hospital wasn’t. They provided nutritious filling meals which were edible (unlike the chicken that was served for dinner in the hospital which I couldn’t even force down). The breastfeeding support was amazing and even just having a comfortable chair to sit in to breastfeed was awesome.
One of the best parts about the birthing centre was how welcome my partner was vs the hospital that barely had a place for him to sit.
After lockdown we started going to a weekly support group run by Liora in the parents room. We continued to do this for 3 school terms, this was absolutely amazing as we made great friends and had so much support and advice from Liora and the other mums. Liora encouraged me to continue the fight with our GP about Annabelle’s possible allergies (no obvious signs) as she could see that something was causing Annabelle pain.
Without the birthing unit this group would not have had anywhere to meet.
We are so grateful to the birthing unit to the support that we received during the birth
 | I really want to birth my future children at the Birthing Centre! I had such a positive, stress-free birth there and the idea of having to birth either at the hospital or at home for my next child stresses me out just thinking about it. It is so cool that we have such an amazing relaxing facility on our doorstep, and it'll be very sad to see it close. It's like having the comfort of a home birth without having to worry about food and mess! |
