Hospital Midwife Appointment

So, the hospital midwife appointment yesterday went really well.  Everyone there was so lovely, very friendly and focussed on making me feel comfortable there.

Before going in to my appointment, I was given a bounty bag (forgot about those little goodie bags!), as well as a brief questionnaire designed to assess my risk of post natal depression.  I was at a pretty high risk of this last time (but thankfully never got it), but the fact that I have a lot more support around me this time in the form of friends with children, means that my risk is significantly lowered.  Plus the fact that more time has passed since certain events that also added to the risk factor last time.

My appointment was with a student midwife as well as one of the staff midwives.  They basically went through my hospital admission form, as well as a question sheet to do with plans/expectations for the birth.  They explained a lot about how they work at the hospital, and spent some time talking to me about my previous birth.  I also had to sign for the first medical decisions for the baby - our baby will be getting the vitamin K injection after birth, but not the Hep B vaccination as we will be starting it at 2 months instead (All my personal research and advice from doctors/midwives confirms that this is the right decision for us).  I also agreed to have the injection to help expel the placenta after birth.

The also checked on the baby - bub's back was laying along my left side which is apparently good at this stage.  Baby's heart rate was good at 142bpm, my blood pressure was still around the same as it has been at 90/65.  My gestational diabetes screen has come back negative, but as expected, my iron was a little low.  It's not too bad (they like to see it at 120, mine came back at 103), but they have recommended iron tablets for me.  Partly to help me feel better (less tired, more energy), but also to get my iron levels up before labour because it is obviously harder for your body to cope with blood loss when your iron levels are down to start with.

I actually felt much better after walking out of this appointment.  They were so very reassuring about my upcoming labour and were also very supportive of the fact that I will be having a doula with me.  They work pretty much the opposite of my last hospital - the midwife was quite angry about the way I was treated last time, and has assured me that the things that happened then, would never happen at their hospital.  The fact that all of the variables from last time have changed completely, gives me much more confidence that this will be a very different labour for me.