As far as i know wanaka cromwell clyde alex roxburgh and anywhere else inbetween Charlotte Jean matternity home is the only place to go to otherwise home birth. pretty sure they dont give epidurals though. If you wanted something along those lines you have to go to Dunedin like i will be. (i have the same view on labour) If you have a difficult or prolonged labour there they transfer you to Dunedin in the ambulance.
Im not sure about queenstown as they come under the southland health board.
I'll be talking to my MW tomorow and she is the lady who runs charlotte jean so i can ask. Are you planning on having baby here?
DH is looking at a job down there but if I cant find an epidural I dont think I'll let the bugger out!. Maybe I might go home to mum and dads for Christmas and birth in Auckland. No epidural.....got to be mad!!!!
As for ambulance to Dunedin.....in labour....no bloody fun! Traffic lights and corners were bad enough last time.
I think you would have to be transferred to Dunedin for an epi, but I'm not positive, sorry!! Otherwise if it was all natural I would say that you would be fine to have the bubba wherever your MW is.
I heard that the birthing suites and facilities are loads better in Invercargil though, so maybe you should plan on being down there at the time
i agree about the ambulance thing i work there and end up doing a heap of the transfers i feel so mean to the poor women 2 1/2 hours really sucks! although we carry a heap of entonox!!!!
Queenstown had a hospital you could birth at when we lived down there (4 years ago) a friend who was pregnant at the time was going to birth at invercargil so she could have an epi but ended up at Dunedin (she had complications and went there because of possibly needing a neonatal bed).
The one in Queenstown may have closed as they were telling women to use it or lose it.
I know that there are two main options for venues to give birth at:
Charlotte Jean in Alexandra is fantastic and I loved every minute of being there. Its like a home away from home with a huge room and also your own ensuite. Your partner can also stay the night if he wants. Baby is kept in room with you also. Fantastic meals are also provided for you for lunch and dinner from the local restaurants and breakfast supplies are there too. There is a midwife there 24 hours a day to help you for anything too. The only issue is, if you need to be induced using syntocinon, drips or need any pain medication apart from entenox (gas) then you aren't able to give birth there. However, if you choose to travel to Dunedin, you can go back to Charlotte Jean afterwards as long as you are there within 12 hours of giving birth. (you can then stay for 3 days, 2 nights). Just dont forget to book if you want to stay there.
Otherwise, if you want an epidural etc you have to be in Dunedin. We live in Wanaka and I travelled down to Dunedin while in labour last time. I got my DH to drive and had my mw follow me in her vehicle. We also had the option of stopping at Charlotte Jean if labour was progressing too fast or my mw needed to examine me. It was no problem and I am doing it again this time even with a twin pregnancy. This time there is a risk that labour will come a lot faster so I may have to be ambulanced down but at least I know what to expect on ambulance - I used to volunteer for them too. (Oh and they have gas - I might just try to dose myself up on it - should be quite amusing).
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