[QUOTE=Spirael;6002708] I'm so worried that when I do decide to have a child, if I'm still in the area I currently live then I'm gonna be the oldest new Mum by about 10 years!

The age of other people having babies would be the least of my worries. Actually here in Toronto I was one of the youngest at my prenatal classes and I was 27 at the time

Also remember that as soon as you mention babies and pregnancy people seen to take great joy in telling you horror stories of childbirth try not to get put off

How does obstetric nurse/doctor/hospital care in Canada differ from GP/midwife/hospital care in the UK? Have I missed something? It's possible, I've only experienced the UK "shared care" route

It sounds to me from this and other threads that midwives here are more like independent midwives in the UK, or even doulas, and that obstetric nurses in Canada do the same as UK midwives. I'm not sure I'd notice a difference, unless I'm missing something obvious. Maybe someone who's been through both systems can explain what a UK midwife does that a Canadian obstetric nurse doesn't?

I think maybe it's just the area I'm in. Last time I walked by the community hall at the top of the street, I stopped to read the posters and the only parent and toddler group they run is for mothers under 19! And all the mothers I see walking by seem to be significantly younger than me. Seems people in my neck of Leeds aren't encouraged to have kids after they turn 20.

Hi,

I have had three of the little blighters on the NHS and found all 3 experiences fine. personnally i have found getting ready to move to canada a really stressfull time and couldnt imagine selling up packing sorting all the paperwork waiting and more waiting whilst being pregnant, its bad enough trying to sort out around the little ones, well 9,7 and 3 oh and not yet 30 (15 days to go!) Having them young.... not something i'd repeat but am enjoying giving them experiences with me!

Its worth a thought that if you have a child here how much pressure will that put on you to stay? familiararity of surroundings, closeness of family and friends can tug the strongest of heart strings, equally you may feel lost if you start your familly with out all of that in a new country, and then want to come home maybe too early and without the full experiance?

On a lighter note, when i had my 3rd i was in a ward of 4 beds, an american lady was brought in and put in a bed opposite me, she wouldnt do anything for her baby and rang the bell so the midwives would come running all the time! She rang it cos she'd forgotten her toothbrush, to get sanitary towells to get them to feed baby which they declined and made her do it herself... after about 4 hours of this she rang the bell, cos she wanted the loo, at which point she was told very politly that the bell was not for silly use and the cross midwife stormed out about 5 minutes later the same cross midwife came back and asked the lady how long she'd been in England, she replied about 2 months why?.... at which point the midwife with a broad smile said
" I think your going to have to pay for your confinement"
"Confinement...I'm not a daaawg"
she drawled and needless to say she was gone within an hour!! everytime i think of it it makes me laugh...

I know what you mean but would that really influence your decision about when or where to have a baby?

I guess I might find it easier than some with leaving friends and family behind. Most of my friends have already moved to Canada or live in the USA, and my parents and inlaws are the opposite end of the country to me, so I only see them a few times per year for a day or so. I might even see more of them all in Canada! So no matter where we decide to have a family, it's gonna be just me and Hubby figuring it out together with the instruction manual (babies come with those - right? ) and with parents on the end of the phone.

Not in a major way, after all I could go and stay with my parents or in-laws for the duration if it was going bother me enough to put me off entirely. But it's still something being considered in my big lists of pros and cons. Gonna make a well rounded decision based on everything! ... It gives me something to think about while I wait for my SW application to process.

Hee, love the story about the American lady, Littletashy! Gave me a giggle.

That's one way to pass the time

When I found out I was pregnant with my first I drove myself and my OH crazy reading books, searching on the internet, writing lists. Looks like you're going to be doing the same thing It's amazing how much more relaxed you are by the time the second one comes along

I haven't worked in both systems yet, but I'm a UK midwife in the process of converting my registration in order to be able to practice in Canada. Yes, Canadian midwives practice much the same way as an independent midwife would in the UK. They have a caseload of women for whom they provide antenatal, labour and postnatal care up to 6 weeks after the birth. Midwives in Canada are currently community based and can offer home births whereas obstetric nurses can't. As far as I know, obstetric nurses are hospital based and are not independent practitioners like midwives. I'm not sure whether obstetric nurses actually deliver babies or not or whether it is a doctor.

Thanks minimeeze So a shared care person like me (GP (never saw him), community midwife clinic monthly and hospital delivery) probably wouldn't notice a difference in the Canadian system - they may even think it "better" as antenatal appts would be >monthly? But a UK named midwife/home birther woman would see a big difference in Canada?

I think that makes sense. I just wondered why the lack of midwives was noteworthy as, as far as I could see, obstetric nurses were doing the same role.

Good luck with your conversion

Both my kids were born by C-section, owing to transverse presentations. Because the first was a planned C-section, it was timed for a week before my due date, and was done before I was expected to go into labour. In the case of the second delivery, I went into labour a month before my due date. I ended up having a C-section, but experienced some labour beforehand.

The reason I mention this is to clarify that I haven't had any personal experience of natural childbirth in a Canadian hospital or any other hospital. However, in the case of my second delivery, I was in the labour ward for some time before my C-section.

But, from what friends have told me of their experiences and from what I learned in prenatal classes, obstetric nurses in Canada don't deliver babies. Well, it does happen sometimes that a baby pops out more quickly than expected, the doctor hasn't yet arrived, and a nurse is the only staff member in the room. But, as I understand it, it is never planned that way in a Canadian hospital.

Postscript. I take your point that your experience of delivery in a UK hospital wouldn't be hugely different from the experience in a Canadian hospital. But I'm guessing that the Canadian system is a bit less user-friendly than the UK system. I'm guessing that it would feel more comforting to the mother who is giving birth to have the same midwife with her throughout the process than to have a doctor step in and take over near the end. Whether or not that makes any difference to a woman by the time she's reached the advanced stages of labour and is about to give birth, I can't say from personal experience.
x

Talking of C-sections just reminded me of a funny story my mum told me. My older sister was a breech delivery as mum put it she basically came out bum first (okay that's not the funny bit and another reason I'm glad I had a scheduled C-section). Anyway my mum says she remembers looking at my sisters hospital ID wrist band and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the words "ASS delivery" it was only when she mentioned to one of the nurses that she thought it was a little rude that she realized it meant Assisted Delivery

Ah, a definite difference.

I had 2 or 3 midwives in the labour room at various times with me (due to shift changes), I'd had no contact with them previously or after. It happened to be a Dr who then went on to deliver (hospital reg., never seen him before either) but it could as easily have been one of the midwives.

So in my case, no-one in the labour ward had had any involvement in my antenatal or postnatal care. I thought this was normal for the UK, but I might be wrong about that.

I take your PS point about having a Dr come in late, but from my UK experience that happens with shift changes and midwives too. Is the Dr who delivers you in Canada likely (where possible!) to be the one you've been seeing for your antenatal check-ups? That might be reassuring for some.

Interesting thread indeed

Yes, if a doctor monitors you through your pregnancy, he/she will try to be present at your delivery. For practical reasons, it doesn't always work out that way. But it's considered to be the ideal. Your doctor will come to the hospital at 2.00 a.m., if necessary, to preside over your delivery.
x

Thanks for clarifying that - I didn't think obstetric nurses delivered babies, but wasn't too sure! In that case, the 'usual' pathway of care for a pregnant woman in Canada would be to receive all her antenatal/prenatal care from a doctor, be cared for in labour by an obstetric nurse and have her baby delivered by a doctor (even if it's a straightforward normal birth). Not too sure about postnatal care. With midwifery care (which is still a relatively new concept in Canada), it would be like the UK, except you would receive continuity of care and carer from 1-2 midwives. You would see the same midwives throughout pregnancy, they would deliver your baby and provide postnatal care for up to 6 weeks. If you needed a C-section, the midwife would still be with you for support, but the doctor would deliver the baby. Research has shown that women cared for by midwives have much better outcomes in terms of less intervention and normal births