Government system

Hi Pixie

I am also going through government ordeal, I am in Pretoria side where are you based?

Hi Pixie

I am also going through government ordeal, I am in Pretoria side where are you based

Hi

Im just wondering how you all got on with the government route and what hospitals you went to you as I find myself in the same situation.

Thanks!

Hi CupcakeAng

How are you coming along? Have you had any luck deciding what route to take? Hope your pregnancy is going well. Where abt in dbn are you? I'm kinda in the same predicament, expecting my 4th tho. Other 3 were all natural births. Had the first 1 and 3rd at McCords, was on med aid for my 2nd so she was born at St Augustines. But now that McCords is closed I'm also a bit lost in terms of what route to take. Would love to know how things are going, maybe we could be of help to each other

Take care n goodluck

Hi Cupcake

Sorry to hear about this, I was in the same boat, i was changing my medical aid over from mine to my boyfriends, and found out i was 6 weeks pregnant.

Of course i did not know how it all would work, and found that i would need to give birth to my daughter in a government hospital.

From what i was aware of is that if you have not had a c-section, they would make you go into labor, and if there was any complication then they would send you in for a c-section. Since you have had a c-section, i do not see how they would make you go into labor, due to your muscles in your stomach will not be as strong.

Just prepare yourself. You first need to go for at least 10 visits to the clinic that the Government has, so you go from like 6 am in the morning to go see a doctor for like 15 min where by they do not scan you at all. which i felt was not correct, because what if there is something wrong with the baby.

Now not to scare you this is what happened to me:
On Monday the 18th March 2013, i went into labor at 41 weeks (as the will not induce you and make you walk up until 42 weeks before they induce) Now of course i am a first time mother, and did not expect that my experience would be the way it was. at 9 pm i had the bloody show which meant that labor was starting, by 12 am i could barely walk, went off to the hospital, no assistant to me from the labor ward, sat outside from the labor ward for about 15 min while my contractions were getting worse and worse. Then they let you in, asking for your paper work first, when you go to the clinic you get specialist paper work to go into the labor department. then i get into a room, whereby they check if you are in labor, once you are in labor, they then tell you to walk while having contractions, to another room, where you are not alone, you have another person in the room with you also about in labor.

Now when you are in labor at a government hospital you DO NOT get any PAIN medication, you have to go through everything naturally. And you cannot describe that pain to any one.

I was at 3 am i was 10 cm so i could push, (now not be able to know how big your baby is. you do not know if the baby will be able to fit down and come down.) Now i am extremely small i am a size 26 in my pants. What really got to me is that i struggled for 2 hours pushing and pushing, getting very tired, only at the end of it when my daughters heart rate started dropping did the doctor that i had decided to give me a L cut down there and get the suction machine out whereby they would put that inside you and put onto the babies head.

Now being as small as i am and did not know how big my baby would be. it took 2 hours to get her out, whereby they said 7 hours later that if my daughter did not come within the next 10 min i would have to go get a c-section. Finally i got enough energy to give one finial push and my daughter was born. 3.25 kg's later.

I went for my check up to my normal gyni and she informed me that i should have NEVER given natural birth but because i was in a government hospital they will push it to the very last when you or the baby are in harms way before they decided to give you a c-section.

Another thing is if you give natural birth before 12:00 in the afternoon you will be discharged the same day that you gave birth. they are like breeding machines. if you give birth after 12:00 in the afternoon then they let you sleep there. but there is only one bed just for you no room for your child. So i would recommend that you take your pram and baby chair so that your child can sleep in their. because you need your rest.

If you would like to know anything and prepare yourself for a government hospital you are welcome to talk to me regarding this.

Regards
Chandre

If you have whatzup or bb let me know.

Thank you so much for replying to me.
I actually managed to get to my local clinic today and even though it was a two hour wait, I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly and thorough they were. I am feeling a lot better about it all now and your response is also very comforting Thank you

Thank you so much for replying to me.
I actually managed to get to my l