[handsfull]

Hi All

Just a quickie. If you were deemed 'high risk' due to high blood pressure and Type II DM and a few other issues, do you feel it is better to go with Monash Med Centre as a public patient or through private OB at Jessie McPherson.

Just wondering if anyone has been deemed 'high risk' and went public at Monash Med Centre and how did they find it, appointment times etc, waiting rooms, same Drs/nurses each time or different etc.

Their website says what their protocol is but was wondering if it really is that way or not. Don't know whether to pay big management fee to private OB if care will be similar. Also how will the private OB care be different.

TIA.

[handsfull]

anyone?

[Missmarymack]

If I was deemed high risk I'd personally prefer to start in th public system - the likelihood of a high risk pregnancy being transferred to public from private is pretty high, so I'd rather start there anyway.

[belsy]

Hi OP,

I didn't go through either but take DS for regular blood tests which is next to the maternity services unit. From my experience it always very full and you can also have a fair wait for the blood and other tests you need.

I have to say you can have a long wait at an OBs office as well.

I had a friend who had 2 babies at Jessie Mac, it was really good and great care, had own room and shower. She had two VBACs there. I understand if there are serious medical conditions with the baby they will transfer them to the Monash part anyway.

I have had one private and one public - you generally see the one OB when private, with public OB (I had to see in later part of pregnancy) this can vary depending who is on the clinic duty. The longest I had to wait at private OB was just over an hour, public was over 2 hours.

I prefered the private, mostly because I had my own room and shower facilities and DH could stay overnight. I was aiming for a VBAC second time round and went public but ended up with another c-section. I had a trainee doing the staples, which were too deep and ended up with infection. With the private OB, he did a great job on incision and staples and he came everyday to my room to check up on me.

It's also important to remember that generally a private hospital will not admit you if you have baby before 36 weeks. I am not sure if this is the same with Jessie Mac since it is co-located though.

Good luck with your pregnancy, I don't know if I helped much.

[MothershipConnec...]

For me personally I wouldn't ever go back to MMC to give birth as a high risk patient. I'd go Jesse Mac. I had a horrible experience at MMC. I had no "voice". The nurses/midwives barely spoke to me, wouldn't discuss my own care with me, and seemed hell bent on getting my baby out as quickly as possible even if it meant increasing the risks to me and my baby.

I should clarify that I was deemed high risk because I had gestational diabetes and my local community hospital does not have an anaesthetist at the hospital 24 hours a day. But he is "on call" and he told me that if I needed an emergency C section in the night I could end up in real trouble and so he recommended I go to a tertiary hospital, so I did.

I was induced for no medical reason despite protesting. My labour was progressing at a normal rate in comparison to my previous 3 labours. Short of leaving the hospital and going somewhere else in the middle of labour I was given no alternative. I was made to wear a monitor even prior to being induced and because I kept moving around (trying to get comfortable as well as re-positioning to open up my pelvis) and so the monitor kept losing my son's HB, but everytime the strap was re-positioned his HB was perfect. The nurses also called a doctor in to deliver my son by forceps with no discussion with me and for no medical reason. His heartbeat was fine, but I was upset because they kept wanting to do thing "to me" instead of treating me as a person and talking to me.

The first I knew that the doctor was there to deliver with forceps was when I saw him unwrap the kit. The midwife looked at me and told the doctor was here to give me a little help. I was shocked. Really shocked and not happy. I thought he was there just to see how far I had progressed because of the induction.

Anyway, I didn't need the forceps...I pushed my son out quite quickly after I saw those things..tore pretty badly too, but I didn't want forceps anywhere near me unless it was absolutely necessary.

I really felt like a faceless person with no voice and no way out. I felt trapped and unsafe. It was not a nice feeling.

My waters had actually broken not long before midnight late in the evening and I went to the hospital soon after as it is a 40 minute drive for us so didn't want to leave it until it was too late. I really believe because I was dealing with night duty nurses/midwives my care was compromised. I just don't think they could be bothered with me.

On the other hand, I've worked as an agency nurse at both MMC and JM and feel the nurses at JM take more care with their patients in general.

Someone else will probably come in now with an opposite story (L) but there is mine for all it is worth. HTH.

This post has been edited by MothershipConnection: 19/04/2012, 12:12 PM

[MuminMtEliza]

Hi OP,

I would definitely go private with Jessie Mac if I was deemed hi risk. I've had both my children at Jessie, once I was transferred there after my waters broke at 34 weeks (the hospital I was booked into wont accept you before 36 weeks), and with the second, I decided to be prepared at book in at Jessie from the start. My DS who was born at 34 weeks was admitted to Monash NICU but was treated as a private patient. Only difference this made was that our DS had the same paed looking after him all the time - not just whichever doctor was on duty. The hospital requested we did this so they could recoup some of the expenses from our PHI. My DD, was born at 35 weeks and went straight to Jessie's SCN.

The main reason I would go private is continuity of care. I was also admitted twice to Jessie before my DD was born - once at 33 weeks for PE and again at 34 weeks for pneumonia. Both times I was in a hospital bed as soon as I arrived - not sure whether there would have been a longer wait at MMC.

My cousin gave birth at a large tertiary hospital as she was diabetic and needed extra care, however when her DS was born, he was put in SCNto monitor his insulin levels, and she was in a room with 5 other women and babies. Its hard enough not having your baby in the room with you, but then to have 5 other babies in the room, all crying and feeding at different times night and day, is pretty hard to take.

Only downside at Jessie is their food - it is disgusting but it is the same food as MMC. However, most women won't choose Jessie for their food or rooms etc, more so that they have a SCN, access to NICU and are experts in hi risk pregnancies. Good luck.

[bottle~rocket]

Hi All

Just a quickie. If you were deemed 'high risk' due to high blood pressure and Type II DM and a few other issues, do you feel it is better to go with Monash Med Centre as a public patient or through private OB at Jessie McPherson.

Just wondering if anyone has been deemed 'high risk' and went public at Monash Med Centre and how did they find it, appointment times etc, waiting rooms, same Drs/nurses each time or different etc.

Their website says what their protocol is but was wondering if it really is that way or not. Don't know whether to pay big management fee to private OB if care will be similar. Also how will the private OB care be different.

TIA.

I think the standard of care for your pregnancy complications would be the same if you went public or private, it's just that you would have more continuity of care if you have a private obstetrician.

I haven't been to MMC as a public patient but did go through private OB and was a patient at Jessie McPherson. My OB had a lot of patients, and I waited over an hour sometimes for appointments and they usually lasted 5-10 minutes.

The Birth Suites at MMC are used by both private and public patients, so I'd assume it is the same midwives providing labour and delivery care for both types of patients.

The difference is that during your postnatal stay in Jessie Mac you are more likely to have a private room than in the public section, although even there most women stay in a shared room for at least the first night after birth before being moved to a private room.

I can't comment on the protocols on the MMC website, but if they don't follow protocol then at least you can refer to this if you are negotiating certain things with them.
If you have a private OB then the type of care you receive is more dependent on your OBs preferences.

This post has been edited by bottle~rocket: 20/04/2012, 06:19 PM

[Freycha]

I recently gave birth at MMC and 2 weeks later my sis also had her bub a Jessie Mac. These are the main differences i found:- yes you get a private room in Jessie mac and your DP will have the option of staying overnight (I was actually glad my DH went home to get a proper sleep so he could be nice a rested to help me during the day....and he snores! Ha!)- food is better at JMac but all hospital food is a bit yuk so much of a muchness really. My fam brought me in food (there's fridges in MMC so you can store your own food!) - you get more free samples of baby products at Jmac...- JMac has carpet...
Birthing suits are used by both public and private so same midwives for all patients. My experience with the midwives was excellent. I was in there for 30+ hours and they were just amazing and even had a few visit me on the ward. I was induced, had epidural and bub was assisted delivery but i never once felt I wasn't fully informed or in control of my decisions. Terrible that others didn't get the same experience. I also knew my bub had some minor birth defects and the hospital was fully prepared and had all the relevant specialists at the delivery which was comforting.
YES you have to share a room at MMC but you form a bit of a bond with the other ladies in your room and it's nice when you go into the nursery to feed and have people to chat to.
The public ward nurses were lovely and very helpful and offer exactly the same care as the JMac nurses so I don't think the aftercare should be a factor for you.
I do agree a private OB will be able to offer you the continuity of care that you just can't get from public leading up to the delivery. It's whether the $ is a factor for you. We did find it a minor bother having to explain every visit to a different person about DS defect but in the bigger scheme of things it wasn't a huge deal.