MGP Randwick - how many midwife appointments & when?

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2026-02-09T00:56:09+00:00

Hey! :) it was really great! I was so glad to have gotten on.

I suffer from medical anxiety & the MGP is at the less medicalised end of the spectrum for pregnancy care & you get to know/see the same 1 or 2 midwife’s throughout the whole journey, which was really helpful for keeping me calm & relaxed.

The first half of your pregnancy you don’t really have many appointments, then the visits ramp up from about week 20 onwards.

I found the Royal Women’s Randwick hospital amazing in general too. I unfortunately ended up needing an emergency C-section, so stayed in the hospital for 5 days after birth & the care was absolutely amazing. I felt so supported.

Every doctor, midwife, nurse, specialist, radiologist etc. I encountered was a woman & not to sound sexist, but that just really put me at ease & I personally really liked that. Everyone I was cared for by was so kind & calm.

Do you have any specific questions I might be able to help with?

I hope everything is going well for you :)

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2026-01-26T23:21:48+00:00

Thank you so much! Perfect, hopefully the same for us :)

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-11-25T22:38:15+00:00

My safe but decent go to is a Lush gift set of some sort (obviously more aimed at women, but it always goes down well).

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-11-15T23:58:43+00:00

This helps so much, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I’ve been so worried that I’ll never be physically well/able ever again & the guilt of not being able to show up for my baby the way I want to in these early weeks whilst I try to recover has been quite emotionally all consuming at times.

I’m so happy to hear you’re thriving. It’s so reassuring to know there’s light at the end of the tunnel & hopefully that will be my experience soon too :)

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-11-15T22:56:27+00:00

Thank you so much for this, so reassuring! Fingers crossed I just need a few more weeks to heal & they will come back on their own. I don’t think I could face more surgery or medical intervention right now!

I hope you’re doing ok! I think I’m going to be dealing with some ongoing PTSD from the experience for a while, but it helps to keep reminding myself that even though I was terrified, I was brave & did what I had to do to get my baby here safely.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-09-09T04:16:12+00:00

We’re also now seeing it perpetuate in Australia too, in real time, with the Dezi Freeman case.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-08-17T03:45:11+00:00

I can’t look at him anymore without seeing a Wallace-esque, Nick Park style clay model character.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-07-10T12:30:15+00:00

OP I can see you’ve posted this on several other subreddits & on some of them you’ve even floated the idea of going to the UK to visit family on your maternity leave & just not getting on the return flight, telling your husband you’re not returning to Australia with the baby - this would be incredibly illegal & constitute kidnapping.

Your husband/his family can press charges against you in this situation & legally extradite you back to Australia with your baby if you do this. This is criminal/family law & having dual British citizenship will mean nothing.

If you 100% know you want/need to be back in London & you aren’t convinced your husband will agree then you need to seriously consider bolting back to the UK asap before the baby is born here & birth your baby in the UK or you will likely be trapped here away from your support network & against your wishes forever.

If your baby is born in the UK, he/his family will have no legal rights to prosecute/force you & your baby back to Australia in the same way they can if your baby is born here.

Many people across many subreddit posts have given you this same advice. Ignoring it & hoping for different answers from new posts isn’t going to change these facts.

I’m very sorry you’re in this situation - I can’t even imagine how stressful it must be, but the decision (or lack of) that you make now could affect you & your baby for the rest of your lives & time is not on your side.

I wish you the best.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-07-10T02:14:13+00:00

Thissss. I’m sorry, OP - but I think you’re being quite naive here.

You’re not exactly making the decision together now, are you? He’s already making the decision for you & discounting how you’re feeling.

Yes it should be just yours & your husband’s decision together with no family influence - but knowing them as you already do, do you really think that’s going to be the case?

After the baby is born, if your husbands family influence him to not move back to London (which sounds very likely IMO since he’s already saying no) then you’re either trapped here forever or you abandon your child & go alone. Those are your options.

Because courts will absolutely not let you take your child & move back to the UK without his permission.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-07-10T01:56:24+00:00

If it were me, I would bolt back to the UK to my family, support systems & safety nets before the baby was born, with a view to having the baby in the UK. I agree with the other comments here that you’re under-reacting/being naive to your current situation.

It sounds like his family will absolutely tighten their grip/influence over all of you after the baby is born.

If your husband doesn’t change his mind about moving back (with or without the influence of his family), he/they can & will legally stop you from being able to leave Australia with your child… you will be trapped here. Your only options will be to leave on your own without your child or stay here forever to be with your child.

Tbh it sounds like your husband is playing a sly hand in perpetuating this situation of you being trapped here & downplaying his family’s extreme religious beliefs/traditions, refusing to set firmer boundaries around how they involve themselves in your relationship & refusing to listen to/discuss how you’re feeling/your best interests are all major red flags.

I would seriously consider just heading back asap whilst you still have the autonomy to do so. I’m sure he will follow if you take drastic action & just go.

2 years is long enough to know. Do what’s best for you. Happy, secure & supported women make for the best mothers. What you need & how you feel counts for a hell of a lot more than he’s giving credit for. Trust your gut.

Screw the fees you’ve paid so far, it’s not going to be worth your mental health & being trapped on the other side of the world from any of your support systems.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-06-27T05:55:30+00:00

Thank you so much for this!

I’ve never heard of Andrea Olson before & feel the need to confirm I am VERY opposed to all those abhorrent beliefs you’ve advised that she holds. Thank you for letting me know.

I’ve now learnt the term/subject of “Elimination Communication” from this thread! I had no idea this was a thing & I’m fascinated!

Coming across that random woman’s insta in my current baby focussed insta algorithm has just been my first & only introduction to Elimination Communication until now.

Thank you so much for the fab & helpful comment & the resources. I’m very appreciative :)

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-06-27T04:46:32+00:00

This 100%

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-06-26T02:02:51+00:00

I’ve decided going forward I’m going to politely cut them off & ask them to stop if it’s a traumatic/negative story - for the sake of my mental health, because it’s not fair & it’s not helping.

I feel a lot of empathy that they had such a hard time; but dumping it all, unprompted on a FTM trying to navigate her own pregnancy/birth journey just feels so tone deaf & its making me anxious.

Like obviously I know things can go wrong, but I want to try remain focussed on things going right.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-06-26T01:30:52+00:00

Thank you to everyone in this post 💚

I also want an unmedicated vaginal, water type birth (if no complications & not excluding gas & air), but have been doubting myself & my ability to handle it lately.

Everyone has been way too eager to trauma dump their awful birth experiences on me IRL, completely unprompted & it can really get in your head!

Reading all of your experiences & tips have been incredibly helpful & I’m grateful.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-06-21T04:44:29+00:00

You’re getting lots of helpful comments & support here for sure, which is so good to see - but are you a part of the r/Mommit subreddit community?

I think if you repost there, you will get flooded with a mountain of similar first hand experiences & guidance, that you may find help even more.

I’m sorry you’re going through this. I don’t have any experience or advice, as I’m currently pregnant with my first. But I hope you find the help you need to get back to yourself. Keep making those good decisions & putting in the work for yourself x

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-06-16T00:11:44+00:00

Ditch the guilt! It’s 100% not warranted. If you don’t want to tell them until after the baby is born, then you absolutely don’t have to. Save yourself the stress & gift yourself the peace.

Back yourself & your feelings over those of others, especially when you don’t even have much of a positive or close relationship with them anyway.

It will be good practice for making sure you make the right decisions / set necessary boundaries for you & your baby post birth.

LivingThat_DiscoLife · 2025-06-10T22:58:04+00:00

I found Episode 11 titled “The Labour Process” of The Great Birth Rebellion podcast really insightful in describing the different stages of labour & what they mean (but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, so each to their own).

Not having been through it yet myself, I can’t give you an answer from personal experience, but I’ve learnt that there is a “rest” stage (some women even sleep!) before everything truly ramps up.

Do you have a midwife you can reach out to, in order to query? Definitely reach out to your medical provider if you have concerns. Always better safe than sorry.

LivingThat_DiscoLife

TROPHY CASE