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Midwife for pregnant liveaboard

ditchy

By ditchy
in General Boating

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sprog Engager

sprog

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We have a beautiful little 8 1/2 week old boy called George on board and the midwifes were nothing but happy with our living arangment. C&rt let us hang around in 1 location for a long time near the end of the pregnancy. So all in all we had a brilliant experience :)

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twbm Experienced

twbm

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Having spent some years visiting people in their homes I can assure you there are some 'conventional' dwellings offering a far less satisfactory environment for kids than that provided by even the most modest of boats. I guess you just need to contrive to be close enough to a road when you're close to full term.

 

Edit - or, having checked, your partner is full term!

Edited by twbm
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carlt Veteran II

carlt

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Our midwives for both our sons were fantastic and the health visitor was even better though when she first visited it was in heels and a pencil skirt and the sight of her hitching her skirt up and climbing into the butty is still seared into my memory.

 

On the second and subsequent visits she arrived in her kayak.

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carlt Veteran II

carlt

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We're having one in September - hints and tips appreciated - relating to the conjunction of boat and baby!

 

We're not planning to join the baby to the boat but I can't think of a better word.

Get used to folk saying "When will you be moving into a house then?" and "Aren't you worried about safety, living by water?"

 

Bringing up a child on a boat is brilliant for you and the kid and I can't help thinking that my second son has missed out on something as he is being raised in a house.

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Captain Zim Community Regular

Captain Zim

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No problems at all for us. All very supportive and friendly. As Carl says, get used to people commenting on safety. In my opinion, if you're the sort of person who will leave your new baby unattended on the roof whilst nipping to the shops, it doesn't really make much difference if you live on a boat or in a house. Plus, I've noticed with our one year old that they do have an inbuilt sense of self preservation!

 

Good luck! PM me if you happen to be anywhere in the South East area and have any questions.

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Has anyone had any experienced with midwifes being biased to being pregnant whilst living in a narrow boat??

 

Not biased about being pregnant onboard, but a couple I knew who had initially planned to give birth on their narrowboat were then strongly advised against by the midwife when the due date came close. I don't know anything about the subject, but she had some very practical reasons why she thought that wasn't a good idea and to a certain extent I can see her point. Although it's true that women give birth in some very unfavourable conditions every day all over the world without a problem, I'm sure the places where that happens also have higher rates of infant mortality and maternal death in childbirth. That quirky notion of giving birth on the boat is all fine until something goes wrong and then you'd give everything you've got for modern hospital facilities.

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MHS Experienced

MHSDonate to Canal World

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That quirky notion of giving birth on the boat is all fine until something goes wrong and then you'd give everything you've got for modern hospital facilities.

Depending where you were moored, you could move closer to a main road or the hospital itself. Don't see it's different to a home birth.
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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Depending where you were moored, you could move closer to a main road or the hospital itself. Don't see it's different to a home birth.

 

Perhaps it isn't, perhaps it is. Depends on the boat and the home.

 

Anyway, in this case it wasn't me who was advising against, it was a health professional.

Edited by blackrose
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MHS Experienced

MHSDonate to Canal World

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Perhaps it isn't, perhaps it is. Depends on the boat and the home.

Don't get me wrong, both our girls were born in hospital and Wendy happily used all available pain relief drugs!!!

 

It's each to their own.

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roland elsdon Influencer

roland elsdon

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If you think British hospitals are a joke then try other countries. It has become acceptable for politicians an the public to demean the amazing work of the Nhs whokept my father alive for years with cancer using the most suitable options from age 68 to 82, then allowed him to make the choice to die with dignity in his own manner. At 03.00 in the morning last yearthe clinical nurse specialist at Nottingham hospital called me to say my mother had had a triple a. I told him getting to him involved a 30 mile cycle from my boat to the car and then an hours drive. I gave him a synopsis of her consent instructions over the phone. He phoned me every half hour till I got to the hospital with updates. My mother is now fully recovered from the emergency surgery.

I am a British trained nurse who is able to get short term contracts as a clinical specialist in Australia on the basis of my uk training, the standards of care over there are far far lower, and this frustrates me. However I am unable to work in the uk.

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