"Midwife-led unit"

I am leaving this review for other expectant mothers who may be feeling nervous about giving birth in a midwife-led unit. My first labour (elsewhere) was an assisted vaginal birth in a hospital setting and it took me some time to recover from this experience. It was unavoidable as my baby came early. Naturally, because of all the medical intervention with my first birth, I lost faith in my body and I was very worried about being sent to the midwife-led unit to give birth to my second child. At the same time, I wanted to avoid too much medical intervention if at all possible. The only thing that gave me some peace of mind was knowing that, if anything did go wrong, I would be transferred to the care of the doctors.

However, from the moment I turned up to give birth (I had waited at home until the contractions were strong and regular), I felt that I was in good hands with the midwives. Thankfully, the labour was progressing normally and the relaxing atmosphere of the midwife-led unit really helped calm my nerves. I used gas and air for pain relief, and I was lucky enough to have use of the birthing pool (I hadn't planned for this). Four hours after arriving I had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. My body had done its thing! The midwives had given me the confidence to trust my body, and I was being regularly monitored should any intervention be required. I am so pleased that I had this experience and, four months later, I have found the recovery much easier than with my first labour.

The midwives are clearly skilled in what they do. They are extremely knowledgeable, experienced and they have your best interests at heart. I am a natural worrier, but they never once gave me cause for concern -- they answered all of my questions and gave me reassurance. For me, my second labour was so much better than what I had experienced with my first. Every birth is different and only you know what you feel comfortable with. But, if your pregnancy has been progressing normally, do at least give the midwife-led option some consideration. The great thing is that, if your body does need some help (which is simply unavoidable sometimes) then you can and will be transferred over to the care of the doctors who are in the same building (a major plus point of the midwife-led unit being housed within St. Michael's Hospital). Giving birth safely is the main aim.