RPA Birth Centre

Hey all, first time mum looking for some birth centre advice. Have you or someone you know given birth at the RPA birth centre? Would you recommend it? And if so, did you have an OB or go with a midwife?
Know I have to make the decision soon but have no idea where to start! Help please!

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Hi! Just to check - do you mean Royal Prince Alfred hosp in Sydney?

Hi Emilie, one of my friends delivered in the birth centre with midwives and found it great. I've booked in with the MGP at RPA birth centre and have found it good so far. 19 weeks and my midwife has been very helpful and reassuring.

I had my baby at RPA birth centre 4 weeks ago - absolutely fantastic experience. I did the birth centre and not delivery ward, but you can swap if you need to in labour. I had Concord MGP and i cannot recommend them enough! All the midwives on the team are amazing and so much education during visits. If we have another baby, i would 100% do everything the same. If you want MGP get in quick with a refferal as spots fill up fast, but it is a fantastic model of care. Also, sign up for the RPA parenting courses early as they book out x

Hay Emilie, I gave birth in Feb this year to my first child. All in the birth centre, which are very spacious and a good size bath in each suite. No complaints what so ever, I was through Concord MGP midwives and highly recommend that group of lady’s also. We stayed in for 3 days following birth and we got plenty of support from the midwives at RPA. Hope this helps and feel free to reach out any questions you have! Best of luck ❤️

I gave birth there and just had a midwife and stayed in a public room. Overall it was a good experience, all the midwives I had during the birth were amazing. They really encourage my choice with going with natural birth. The whole birth suites was great, very spacious to walk around and lay on the floor.
My only downside was after the birth. My baby and myself were great after the birth, however I felt that we were a little forgotten about. It'd take my nurses usually 30mins or more to come when I pressed the button for assistance. I believe this might be because we didn't have any issues as the lady next to me had pumping issues and her nurses were very prompt. As a FTM though it was hard not having the nurses come when needed.

I had my baby at RPA birth centre. I had a midwife there - they were all absolutely AMAZING.

I didn’t have my baby at the birth centre but if you have an uncomplicated pregnancy it’s a fantastic option with continuity of care and the midwives are fantastic. If anything goes wrong delivery ward, theatres and NICU are right next door - not to scare you, but just in case. If you want a private obstetrician I can highly recommend Joyce Wu who is in charge of birth centre and is fantastic. Just be mindful that they can’t do epidurals there but they are fantastic. Like anywhere it can get busy but is a rather small space, so I think it’s a good choice if it suits your risk profile.

I should also add that our baby had to go straight to resus and nicu for about 4 days, and the staff and doctors were all amazing at keeping us in the loop and getting me involved with everything in her recovery. The level of care she recieved was fantastic, and i had 3 lactation consultants to help as well as a physio for my abs

I'm currently with RPA, 13W high risk with autoimmune. They took me in to see in house OB in week 8, and they have booked me in to see them every month along with ultrasound. I was handled by 2 rheumatologists and 1 dermatologist alongside, all in RPA where they communicate with each other frequently. So far I feel really well taken care of, despite of initial hiccups where they lost my paperwork, but with a bit of proactivity, calls and emails, once I'm in the system, I got all the immediate attention and care I need, so far. I also know 3 other friends who had their babies in RPA with positive exprience too. I started everything with my GP, once I got referred to RPA, it's all handled by RPA, all covered by Medicare too so far for now. Congrats and good luck!

I had my delivery at RPA hospital, at the delivery ward. Not sure if it’s the same as birthing Center, I think they are separated but overall the staff is amazing there! I recommend the ward because I had to do an emergency cesarean. Happy to answer any questions, feel free to dm

yep that’s correct 😊

Thanks shannan! When you say MGP is that shared care with your GP? Sorry still learning the lingo 😁

awesome to hear you received such great care in what I can imagine would have been a bit of a scary time, hope all is ok now. I will definitely investigate the parenting course also 🙂 thank you

thanks for the OB recommendation wasn’t sure where to start with that either! Was she there throughout your labour or do they tend to come in when it’s delivery time? And were all your appointments with her in the lead up? May be a silly question but want to make sure my head is around it all haha

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. So reassuring to hear everyone’s personal stories and recommendations - especially with all my excited/nervous energy! X

@Emilie all good now and thriving thankfully - just a scary, unexpected start! MGP is midwife group practice, and not with GP, but you need the gp to send a referral to RPA to get you on the list for MGP. Methods of care are listed on RPAs website with the link for GPs to fill in for model of care. Message if you want any further advice :) MGP midwife's also have continuity of care, so they will visit you at your home post birth for checkups and appointments for around 4 weeks - it makes everything much easier to manage x

Sorry Emilie, just saw this! Thanks Sarah for clearing that up 🥰

in our community

Anyone else up feeding their Bebe?

As above. Trying so hard to keep my eyes open

Oh my God, oh my God I hope this is not true!!!! I’m kind of scared

I’ve been throwing up and taking a shit all night!!! I just hope that it’s not what I think it is

Is this normal??

I’m 29 weeks pregnant and having really aching legs and they’re all lumpy and swollen. Above the knee and behind the knee . Should I be worried ? My legs have never looked like this up until a few days ago. ??

Anyone else experiencing this?

Gave birth (vagina) 5 days ago and yesterday morning and this morning getting lot of pain in my right bottom side and lower back

Induction experience

I just wanted to share my experience with being induced as I wasn’t sure what to expect and thought it may help others.

I opted for the foley balloon which was inserted at 8am Saturday morning, I had to stay in hospital due to hypertension and protein urine however usually you can just go home once this has been done. The insertion of the balloon was not painful, was slightly uncomfortable as there was slight pressure. I actually found having the cervix checked prior to be worse (again not painful at this point just uncomfortable) The balloon had little effect and after having it removed I was still only 1cm. Removal also was pain free and hardly even noticeable.

I then had my first dose of the gel and definitely noticed a difference, I started experiencing period like cramps almost immediately however they were light and manageable. After 6 hours I had another cervix check and although my cervix was soft it was still only 1cm and was only open at the front. I had another dose of the gel and felt an increase in pressure and more intense cramping where I now required pain relief (codeine). After another 6 hours I had another cervix check and I had now dilated to 2-3cm however was still quite difficult to get all the way through so a third gel was recommended which I agreed to.

Almost immediately I noticed the difference and was in considerable pain, I had paracetamol and codeine however the contractions had now become intense and a lot closer together (around 3 minutes apart). After a couple of hours I had my last cervix check and was 4cm and taken down to the Labour ward to have my waters broken and an epidural.

I had been in my room for approx 20minutes when my waters broke by themselves and I was now 10cm and actively pushing…. There was no time for the epidural and my beautiful girl arrived into the world within 2 minutes of pushing.

All in all I would say the cramps/contractions were manageable up until the third gel where it became pretty unbearable however it was for a very short time a gas and air helped take the edge off. The worst part about any of it was actually the later cervix checks where after stimulating the cervix my contractions were at their most painful.

If I had to be induced again I would skip the balloon and opt for the gels immediately as thy had a quicker effect and I would have been out a lot sooner if I had done this to begin with.

One more thing, I’ve never believed when people say “you forget the pain once they’re here” but I can honestly say this is true. It’s been 4 days and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

It’s my birthday tomorrow.

Ok so I am going to be 35 years young. I can’t believe how much this life has thrown at me but it’s okay I’m a survivor. I am truly blessed to be alive. 🥳🧁🎂 The only downside is I won’t be celebrating my birthday because my man can’t take me out. So many emotions right now.