Review: NHS Antenatal class

Well, due to circumstance, it's safe to say that last night will be our first and last NHS antenatal class - not that we'll be missing much. It was massively oversubscribed and was more of a vague question and answer session than structured antenatal class, though with 50 odd people in the room, it could hardly have been a hands-on class!

I didn't learn that much. The midwife went through what to expect in labour (in short, a lot of pain over many hours...) and briefly covered pain relief options. Rather than learning stuff, it basically inspired me to write a list of questions to ask of my new midwifery service when I move and what sort of things I need to clarify in my birth plan. The big issues are:

1. Pain relief at home - I've never factored in what pain relief I can use at home before I go into hospital, as that's obviously not an immediate thing. I've decided I'm going to try a Tens machine, in addition to the good old hot water bottles and baths (though obviously I won't mix the bath and Tens, I don't fancy an electric shock! I've looked into them, and to hire they are about £25, which as Lloyds Pharmacy has one on sale for £30 which will do the job, I might just buy one! For the sake of £30, it's worth a try (Tens doesn't work for everyone) and I can always eBay it afterwards.

2. Epidural - It seems I can have that as soon as I want in hospital, despite what the woman (I'd say midwife but she never introduced herself, so you can't be sure!) at my last appointment said! Also, apparently Lewisham now has mobile epidurals. I've never heard of these, but apparently it allows some movement and walking around, and is patient controlled - which sounds a lot better as being static and bed-bound does slow the progress of labour. I'm going to look into whether this is an option in the Midlands and if so, it's going in the birth plan!

There are loads of other little questions such as ward visiting hours, how Dylan is going to have vitamin K and whether I want a natural placantal delivery etc etc. Basically my new midwife, once I've moved, is going to be barraged with a billion questions!

All in all, the main thing the antenatal class showed me, other than these questions, is how good it is we are moving. The midwife simply couldn't hide that fact that they are dreadfully understaffed - to the point where women who want home births are often forced into hospitals as they often only have one rather than two midwives available for home delivery. I was so shocked that the NHS promotes choice with one hand, than takes it away with another! As the move is 99% go for Saturday, I need to find out how I get my maternity care transferred, as I'll be staying with Alex's parents in Bromsgrove (thank you!!!) and then moving (hopefully) in a few weeks to Alcester. As they are in different counties, will I have to register twice? Can I just register in Alcester, even though I won't have an address there? Hopefully, if our offer is accepted on Stratford Road, I can just give that address next week, even if I'm not living there... who knows!

So much to do, so little time... better get packing!