Home birth in Montreal - Page 3

[shenanegans]

Jamile- My friend went through all this last year. Her baby was born in June at the Pt. Claire birth center. She put her name on the waiting lists when she was 6 weeks preg. (me at 3.5weeks, before my period was due a got a positive) At 20 weeks she got the call from the birth center in Pt. Claire that she got in.She never got a call from the clinic in Cote des Neiges. Up until that point she had her prenatal checks with her regular family Dr. When she got in to the center, she got her files transferred. I was with her for the birth and the experience and midwife care in Pt. Claire was amazing. My friend still has her family dr. now to deal with her regular family appts. The midwives will provide post natal care for 6 weeks.
I am 16 weeks pregnant now and would love it if I got a call closer to 20 weeks rather than 30 weeks.The cut off is 30 weeks. This waiting is terrible. If I don't get in, I don't know what I will do, I can't bear the thought of going to the hospital. I guess I will need to start searching for these "underground midwives"

[missmich]

I'm glad to hear good things about Lassalle hospital and The Nazareth Clinic since it seems that's where I'll be going. I'm hoping to have a doula with me.

Can I have both a midwife and an OB? Or would they just get in one anothers way?

To find a midwife I should call Alternative Naissance asap it seems right? The midwives are allowed to come to the hospital with me?

I don't really know what my options or what I want exactly yet. I'm only about 11-12 weeks so hopefully I have time to get it all sorted.

[paxye]

Originally Posted by missmich

I'm glad to hear good things about Lassalle hospital and The Nazareth Clinic since it seems that's where I'll be going. I'm hoping to have a doula with me.

Can I have both a midwife and an OB? Or would they just get in one anothers way?

To find a midwife I should call Alternative Naissance asap it seems right? The midwives are allowed to come to the hospital with me?

I don't really know what my options or what I want exactly yet. I'm only about 11-12 weeks so hopefully I have time to get it all sorted.

If you get an underground midwife, yes you can go to both, but you can't talk about the midwife to the OB since they are working illegally.

If you get into a birthing centre, no, you can't have both... it is either/or.

Only the birthing centre midwifes can go to the hospital, the underground midwives found through alternative naissance can not (unless you transfer from home and they could act as a doula)

Keep calling the birthing centres... (including the new Plateau centre) and try to get in if you can

[missmich]

OMG! I find it super frustrating when things are not in both languages. If a service is offered in both languages then they should at least have the answering machine message in both! I have no idea if I was supposed to leave a message or if their machine is not for messages.

From what I've gathered is that a midwife can come to the Lassalle with me and I can have a doula but not on OB. At least that's what nurse at their birthing center told me.

Does anyone have a web address for either Lassalle Birthing Center or The Nazareth Clinic? I've Googled and haven't found anything yet.

[missmich]

Ok so I'm now on the wait list for both the Birthing Center in Cote de Neiges and Point Claire. I don't even know if I want a midwife yet though or if I'll get the call.

[shenanegans]

missmich- is this your first pregnancy or birth at the birth center? Are you 12 weeks now? I put my name on the lists when I was 3.5 weeks and I havn't gotten a call yet. (I have since given up) I think a lot has to due with when your due date falls. The summer is the worst. I am 23 weeks now and I have hired a private homebirth midwife. the total cost for all the prenatal checks, the birth and 6 weeks post partum care is 2000$. Pretty reasonable I think! Good Luck! I do hear good things about lasalle as well. Keep us posted!

[megs15]

Just wanted to pop back in on this thread- I'm 36 weeks pregnant right now and got in with the CDN birth center when I called in Sept. (4 weeks pregnant) so it does happen! People do get in!
So far my experience has been great there. The midwives are so open to my wishes, they keep you very realistic about birth and offer lots of support.
I'm hoping they can get more funding to have more midwives and birthing centers because they are obviously needed.
I do know some ladies who were called at 30 weeks or earlier, b/c openings do come up when/if they need to transfer care if someone becomes high risk. my advice would be to call them and check in every few weeks- they almost forgot to call me to let me know when my prenatal class was (thankfully I called the day before it started) so perhaps sometimes they aren't so organized.

[shenanegans]

I also wanted to pop in again, just to let those of you are wondering know....a home birth with a private midwife costs $2000 for all the prenatal checks, the birth and 6 weeks post natal home checks. Not bad I think. I am 30 weeks now, I met one of the midwifes from Pt Claire yesterday at the "midwife march" and she encouraged me to call the birth centers again just to double check. I called pt claire and no chance there, left a message at CDN. I just wanted to get the final NO way, before we pay the remainder of the money to the private midwife. We got her contact through Alternative Naissance for those who are interested.

[KiwiMum!]

Unimpressed with the healthcare system here in Montreal

Hi there everyone,

I have just moved to Montreal from New Zealand and am 28 weeks along with my 2nd baby.
I am unimpressed with the healthcare system here.
I can't believe how difficult it is to find a midwife here in Montreal and the waiting lists for the birth centres are so terrible.

I really want to avoid having to give birth in a hospital.
I am healthy and have had a healthy pregnancy and there is no foreseeable reason I should need to go to the hospital for my delivery.

I have a medicare card and residency status here in Quebec however I can't even find a GP doctor or Obgyn who will give me any prenatal care.
I have been denied care by 13 different clinics, 2 hospitals in my area and 9 seperate Obgyn's.

They all say I'm too far along and they don't have space for me.

I have been to my local CLSC, who were totally unhelpful.

I have been reduced to going to a walk in clinic and waiting 4 hours just to get basic prenatal blood tests done.

I am now considering an underground midwife, who could assist at my home birth, the problem is trying to find one

I fortunately have managed to find an excellent Doula though

What are women here suppose to do? How can we tolerate such a broken system for the good healthcare of our Mothers and newborn babies?

[SilverFish]

it's true, i know! i almost died of stress trying to find a midwife when we moved to montreal in the fall. i did NOT want to go to a hospital, and it's not easy to find an OBYGN anyway. have you called all three midwife clinics? there's one in point claire, cote-des-neige and jeanne mance? the jeanne mance one is the newest and most likely to have space. that is where i got in. the biggest problem with them is that they have very few english speaking midwives, and since i speak very little french, it was a little tough to get my prenatal care from someone not very fluent in english. i loved my midwife though.

healthcare is a big problem in quebec, not really in all of canada. for example, in ontario, where i began my pregnancy, we had THREE midwife clinics in a town 1/10 the size of montreal. but i agree, the midwife situation here is pitiful.

[KiwiMum!]

Yeah, I have tried all 3 birthing centres without any success, spoke with a lovely midwife who really wanted to be able to help but she said they average 80-100 calls from women needing care a month and only have room for 30 women.

I am comfortable with my decision to have my doula and husband support me on my birthing day and will transfer from home to a hospital if need be.
I'll continue to look into a 'private' midwife and educate myself on unassisted birth too.

Its such a shame we don't have more options though

[Sourire]

I agree that the situation here is unfortunate... I wrote to the ombudsman of my local CLSC to explain the problem and what I thought of it. I should also probably write to my MNA. If every person who is as upset about this as me and you write to their health district and MNA, things will start to change!

In fact things are already changing...the Charest government made a promise a few years ago to create 20 new Maisons de Naissance within 10 years... http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/sant...des-naissances

[Pau]

me too, I am not originally from Canada and lived nothing short of a nightmare with my pregnancy in Quebec. Ended up paying for the services in Ontario ( I was not in Montreal) and finally the experience was not as I expected either.
I find in general Canada has a VERY bizarre health care system, but it is like a sacred cow, nobody can criticize it. I am always astonished by how people is treated in general (cut off over the phone, people given test‘s results of high emotional impact over the phone by secretaries, people put under hurdles to get medical records, test results).

I would suggest start NOW looking for some type of care for your future baby (GP or Ped). It is supposed that babies and pregnant women have priority for the system. If you call to the CLSC once the baby is born they should accommodate the baby under the care of a GP.

[MeMeAtl]

HI, I understand your frustration. I finally arrived in MOntreal this month and I am in my last month of pregnancy, so no one wants to see me either. So I called Alternative Naissance [phone] and the really hooked me up with a wonderful array of resources.:-)))) I would highly recommend calling them.

[shenanegans]

How is everyone's search/ wait going? I recently had my home birth with a private midwife and it couldn't have been better.My little guy is almost 2 months already! If you are wanting a home birth, keep looking for a midwife and get the birth you want even if it seems impossible. My midwives were amazing and to have this experience made all the difference compared to my unexpected c-section last time. Good Luck!

[megs15]

hey, just checking in again on this thread, with more updates. :) I, of course, had my baby- things went wonderfully at the birthing center and it was a great experience. It lead me to pursue.....doula work! Actually, something that was posted on this thread also prompted me to look into it so I took lesley's training at motherwit, which was great.

Just putting it out there for anyone who might be considering doula care- as part of my certification process I should attend 5 births, which I'm doing free of charge. Not sure if people can post things like this on this forum, but if anyone would like more info you can check out my new website www.meganthedoula.com I can also offer advice on resources for all things relating to birth, no matter where that might be.

Smiles.

Megs

Edited by megs15 - 5/17/11 at 8:20am

[sociostud]

Hello everyone,

I am a student in sociology, and I am doing my final thesis on natural birth in Quebec, focusing on a holistic approach. I have talked to many doulas so far, but midwives are very busy, so I was wondering if any of you know midwives personally, that you could recommend me...

Thanks in advance for your help.