Giving Birth in Public Hospitals

tet

tet

Registered User
I would like to ask those who gave birth at public hospitals if you know or have noticed if those who actually deliver babies are Consultants or Attendings and not just Resident doctors. In all of my checkups, only resident doctors check on me. Thanks so much for your inputs.
 
Sorry I was so oblivious at the time of delivery to who was in the room! I couldn't tell you! But from recollection, what they told me was that the doctor would just come and check, and if all was ok, the midwives would frequently deliver the baby as mocha said. I was very happy with that, since I feel that they've done all the hard work throughout the labour, coaching and encouraging the mother, and they are very well able to deliver babies.

I actually don't know what you mean by consultants, attendings and resident doctors?
 
I think it all depends on what kind of assistance you require at the time of labour and delivery. When I gave birth to my daughter 2 months ago, there were 2 Obstetricians and 1 Pediatrician (With his team) since my labour was long/ complicated and they presumed my daughter would need special attention immediately after birth. In addition there were at least 3 or 4 nurses/ midwives. When I was in initial stages of labour there was a midwife sitting next to my bed the entire time monitoring my condition. Neither of the two doctors whom I saw at Tsan Yuk were present. But in the recovery ward the Chinese lady next to my bed told me that her baby (It was her second) was delivered only by a midwife.
 
Hi, I have to say that I was also a bit oblivious when it came to exactly who was around at the actual time of delivery - in my case c-section. However the care I received was excellent at all times, once on the ward I was seen by only junior Drs, and the nursing staff and then discharged without once seeing a consultant. Both my son and I were fine and happy to be heading off home. Having worked within maternity serivces I was comfortable that there was no need for a consultant to be present but if this is a real concern for you I'd say you will need to go private because in all likelyhood you won't be seen by a consutant very often in the publi system.
 
First time there were about 15 ppl in the room (2 docs down the messy end, plus paed., plus all 'my' midwives, plus anyone else who was bored but working at 4 am. It was basically a truly hideous experience. The docs were attitudey, the midwives were losing patience, I was 27 hours into a really nasty labour...).Baby came out with a massive vacuum blister/bruise on his head, I had a giant episiotomy slash, needle hole in my spine, and bad bad memories. Baby spent first few hours of life in an incubator, it was all horrible.
Second time I put on my birth plan - no doctors. Told the midwives - no doctors. Told the doctors to leave me alone - all went perfectly to plan. Baby came out all perfect, I had a couple of minor stitches, breastfed immediately, baby stayed with me from that moment on.

Hmmm, doctors? No, thank you. The midwives are experienced - this is their job. They are nice, they know what to do, they will call a doctor if there is any risk, but really it's just having a baby.

(Both times in Queen Mary)
 
Geiboyi your first experience at Queen Mary's sounds just like mine. They put me off the epidural some time before it was time for me to push and so I was in immense pain during the actual birth of my daughter. My labour was for 19 hours and I pushed for 3 whole hours before they did a vacuum extraction. Anybody I speak to says that under these circumstances, because I was a week overdue (The baby had gone considerably large) and because it was my first baby they should have done a C- section and not risk the health of the baby. Anyways the Obstetrician no. 1 was so lousy she could not put the vacuum on my daughter?s head properly the first two times so it kept slipping and the baby's head was literally coming in and out (Imagine the pain me and my daughter went through just because the Obstetrician was inefficient). Obstetrician no. 2 managed to pull my daughter out. She wasn't breathing when she came out because she had gone into respiratory distress due to long labour, 3 hours intense pushing, of being popped in and out thrice and immense vacuum pressure on her head. My husband was so damn scared witnessing this whole thing and seeing my daughter (Of course I was in so much pain I could not lift my head to see her). Her head was so large where they had put the vacuum (It?s a birth related injury Cephalhematoma) and her chest was swollen like a pigeon, it took the Paedratition several minutes to get her breathing. I was looking forward to the moment when I would hear my baby cry for the first time after she was born but she was in too much pain to cry. My daughter spent a week in the incubator but thank God she is doing fine now although her head is still lopsided which I hope will get better with time.
My episiotomy was another mess they created. The private doc was aghast to see what they had done (He said ?No lady should ever go through this in her life?). He also said that the scar was too big and they used Nylon thread which is so outdated (He said most hospitals use surgical glue or silk thread). I was in deep pain from the infection I got in the stitches, took antibiotics for a month to get better. (Which of course were not prescribed the docs at Queen Mary's.)
 
My experience at Pamela Yourde Nethersole Eastern Hospital has been far out! Although i had a prolonged second stage labour, the midwives were awesome in that they were ultra encouraging and not over bearing... they came in every hour to check on me and how i was progressing and they even offered coffee to my hub. It was only the midwives who came to check on me on the hourly basis and a doctor would pop in randomly to see if everything is alright. In Pamela Yourde, only midwives deliver the babies, only on difficult and complicated circumstances would the doctor come in and deliver with assistance of perhaps another 3 to 4 midwives. I started going for the monthly checkup at the public hospital (prior to that was a private ob gyn) when i was about 5 months prior to the delivery and ive seen 2 to 3 diferent doctors (public hospital system) and there were 2 of these doctors which were very friendly and accomodating.. i was absolutely lucky to have gotten one of them (you dont get to choose which doctor - whichever doctor is on duty at the moment wld come when the need arise) during my delivery. I had an assisted delivery via vacuum extraction and the doctor was beyond wonderful. The midwives assisting were also splendid, very encouraging and at times truly humourous... My episiotomy stitch was neatly sewn and i didnt have to go back to get it taken out like a friend of mine who delivered in Queen Mary, mine dissolves by itself.. the doctor gave me extra dose of general anesthesia as he was sewing me up. The doctor kept a conversation with me so that i wouldnt feel much when he was sewing the episiotomy wound. I breastfed the baby soon after. Most of what was in my labour plan was respectfully looked into and I am beyond impressed with the midwives and the doctor during my labour.

For the stay, the nurses were very helpful in educating me on breastfeeding and every aspects of the stay was above satisfactory - they even had sessions where they would teach you various exercise to do during the first few months after delivery), though if you are not the chinese porridge eater, i suggest you have your hub bring you some cereals and milk for breakfast (actally they wld serve you milk if you request for it) and some of your favourite dishes for dinner when he comes visit. One drawback is that visting hours is only from 4pm till 8pm.

Overall I would go back to Pamela Yourde.
 
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