Baby delivery at Medcare hospital

I delivered at Medcare and it was horrible! The entire experience had me so upset that I am still livid today. I was very specific in my birth plan on what I wanted and what I didn't want. None of my requests were carried out. It it was my first baby, I would never had wanted to have any other children after that experience. The hospital is full of rules and they are not necessarily ones that are good. The staff have procedures and even if it goes against your birth plan, they do it, WITHOUT asking you. Enemas are as archaic as ever, with no proof that it helps labour, Medcare will do it. You are stuck between wanting to poo or having contractions, not sure which to concentrate on. Then they had no bog roll, so even though we asked about 4 times, it never came! They did not want skin-skin contact between me and bubs and I had to fight to get my baby onto my chest. It is proven that the first hour, it is crucial to have that bond, breastfeeding comes easier, bubs warms up, helps with uterus etc etc. I had my Doula and my husband arguing with doc to get baby back. They love suctioning baby too, totally unnecessary but it is their procedure! Episiotomy - another procedure - was done without my consent. DH said they looked at each other and cut, and the stitches were very badly done when it was being repaired, I had this confirmed by another doc elsewhere, because I was so upset about it. Then I was given Reparil Gel to apply - gosh, the sting after using that! The room does get crowded when you deliver, I even had a nurse kneeling next to me on the bed pushing bubs down, which was traumatic. It was very barbaric and very primitive. I had my DS in Sydney at a public hospital, and compared to that, this was a disaster. After delivery, I had to wait in the delivery room for about 1.5 hours, then was wheeled to a cubicle, not a room, as all had been occupied. My bag arrived after about an hour and after phoning the Labour ward from my mobile asking to send it to me. The beds are separated by curtains. However, I do believe you get charged for a private room, which I still haven't been re-imbursed for. Visitors are allowed at any time, people are on their phones, so you cannot get rest time at all. I discharged myself as soon as the paed had seen bubs. I am a Doula and attended births at other hospitals, but I have NEVER experienced anything like this. Perhaps it was just my bad luck. If I had to recommend a hospital to you, I would say American Hospital. Good luck to you and be strong and assertive if you do go to Medcare. Edited to add that had my insurance covered American Hosp, I would have gone there! <em>edited by TurkishDervish on 22/10/2011</em>

Another one who delivered at medcare 5 months ago. I think this is a very personal question based on what your preferences and expectations are. I was seen by the OB/GYN from medcare, but changed DR 3 weeks before my due date(again due to personal preferences) I still stayed at medcare but different OB/GYN. The wards are nice, as well as the delivery rooms to be honest. I gave birth to my son(now 4 in the UK) and I have to say the room was not as nice as what I had here(but that depends on what area you live in) My labour was slow so I was in the delivery room over night and only gave birth the next day, so I experienced both the night shift ladies and day shift. I have to admit I was not impressed with the night shift midwife at all. But again that depends on person to person, I will not say all night shift midwifes were bad. They always made sure I was hydrated and had enough energy. They do offer enema and shaving(out of routine) but you can say no to both. When DD was born, there were a lot of people in the room, but in a way I found it good coz they all support you and encourage you. About 10 min after her birth the paediatrician came in to check out DD to make sure all was ok(turns out she had a broken collar bone) And they encouraged me to breastfeed as soon as she was checked over. I did have to stay in the delivery room for an hour or so while my room was set up. Once in my room the nurses offered to show me how to change a nappy, bath and so on. Really nice and supportive. But I explained that this was my second and knew what I was doing, they left me to it. Was not disturbed much. If I had another(big IF) yes I would go there again. HTH

I had my third baby at Medcare in July this year and I had a great experience. The staff were lovely and I was really looked after.

I think the problem is that we all have different expectations of what we want from the hospital and staff, so what I consider to be great, would be a horrible experience for someone else, and vice versa. Clearly it would depend on the actual nurses/duty doctors you get throughout your stay as well - whilst they all work at the same organisation, this doesn't mean they operate the same way! I can say, that if you clearly communicate what you want to the staff, they will do as you ask (well that was my experience) We had DS there nealy 21 months ago now, and I will be giving birth to baby number 2 there early next year. To give you some context about what I wanted, I didn't really want any assistance at all, I had recently lived with a newborn, so I felt quite comfortable with what I needed to do. I did want to leave straight after, but they do make you stay at least one night. They did check to make sure DS was feeding properly, offered to take him and look after him in the nursery while I rested, offer to give him his first bath etc - but we declined, I didn't want him leaving my sight, and wanted to do 'firsts' ourselves. DH stayed the night, the room was fine, it had its own bathroom, and no noises outside the room disturbed us. I did ring and ask for something, and they brought it straight away. The only things that I wasn't that fussed about, was that there ended up being about 5 or 6 nurses/doctors in the room, other than DH and I when I was actually giving birth, considering I was doing all the work, and was quite relaxed about it, and had no complications it seemed a bit over the top. Also they do always seem to be very busy with lots of births happening, they did say they didn't have a private room for us after we had DS, and wanted us to go on a shared ward, but I refused, as I didn't really want to stay the night anyway, I said we would just go home rather than go into another shared ward, so they kept me in a delivery room for a few hours, and then put us in a private room. Overall, my experience is that the facilities are good, the care was professional and they were there if I needed it, not much more we could ask for really, given it is a hospital! <em>edited by TanyaR on 20/10/2011</em>

I had both my kids there, DD now 3 DS 18 months. Rooms were nice, great view of Burj Khalifa in one of the drlivery rooms (good thing to focus on!!) Staff were really helpful and friendly and 2nd time around they recognised me. My ob delivered there and she was in control both times. Loved the food!! Just be strong with them about coming into your room as I got a bit fed up with them constantly coming in and out particulary at stupid times in the night/morning when I'd just got to sleep !!

I had my first at Medcare which wasn't a great experience. I was stuck in a general ward as the maternity ward was full and the level of care i received was pretty bad, especially as a first time mum. I wasn't shown how to feed, and i'd had an emergency C section which made getting in and out of bed to pick up my son to feed and change him pretty painful. They just said i'd have to manage or have him taken to the nursery instead. If you a do a search you'll find a LOT of threads from people who had a bad experience. I just got my BFP and my second will be due in June. Not particularly happy about the idea of having to have another baby there, but not really sure i'll have much choice, our insurance is now with Daman and that's one of the only hospitals on our plan. :\: <em>edited by Mockingbird on 20/10/2011</em>

Sorry to threadjack but can I ask why your doctor doesn't recommend City any more? I'm due to deliver there in a few weeks and it would be useful to know of any potential issues in advance. Thanks :).

Hi Smilies I gave birth at medcare on the 10th Sept. It was an ok experience, was not all that I wanted but as my 1st I didn't know what to expect. When we arrived we had to walk around trying to find someone to help us ( even after my doctor called to let them know I would be there) after getting settled the gave me an examination, hooked me up to baby monitor and then left. I asked them to call doctor and they says they had. ( they hadn't) about 2 hours later I was pushing which they said I shouldnt do as I wasn't ready. I WAS!!! when they did an exam they realizes it was time, they only then called my doctors, even though I kept asking if they had earlier. They got the duty doctor to do the delivery it was ok, she cut me though and didn't tell me, my son had cord around throat and they didn't tell us. The 1st I knew about cut wad when my doctor arrived and I asked her and she said it was only small. And I only knew about cord cause I heard a comment the nurse made. Even though my experience wasn't great, and I wish it was different I got a healthy little boy and that us all that mattered to me. I would go back to them but I will make sure that they fully understand what I want!! If you make sure your husband knows what you want he needs to be your spokesperson and be very adamant!!! Also you need to tell them you want a private room as soon as you arrive I did and still had to keep telling them till I got one. I only stayed 14 hours and then went home as I dont like hospitals. Also be prepared to have loads of accountants stealing your husband away to do paper work and payment. Sorry if it's not all positive but I guess everyones experience is different. Good luck and Congrats. Ps is this your 1st and when you due?