Antenatal care

My antenatal care takes place in my hospital so we got 5 midwives and they all take in turns to meet you. They were all really nice. I've been really happy with the care I have received. But the only thing is that they did promise one of them will be there at the birth. Right at the start, they told me they would be there. Only recently, only last week they told me they couldn't do it because they've got staff shortage. That was really disappointing. Gareth and I were not very happy about that. But from what I have heard, very few women have the same midwife at their birth. So I am not too worried. It's fine. I am not too worried about that. But we didn't get a choice. At the start I saw them once a month I think and now as the pregnancy progresses, every 2 weeks. So It was fine. What I would say is talk to other pregnant women about your antenatal care because some antenatal care is bad from what I have heard. It can be quite poor. I think it's very important that you are getting the right care and getting the right information. That's really important. For instance, one of my midwives sat down and went through my birth plan with me. She explained exactly what would be going on with my body and how the cervix would open and everything I could go through during labour. I thought that was very good of her. When I speak to some other mums they say 'oh my midwife didn't do that.' They said their midwives just went through the motions. So I'd say talk to the other women pregnant women and find out what sort of care they are getting and demand it. Be quite demanding.