Antenatal
The antenatal period is the time when you are pregnant and growing your baby. Antenatal visits involve an assessment of you and your baby to check that everything is continuing as it should and that your baby is growing well. Usually antenatal visits take place in your midwife’s clinic and take about half an hour. During this time your midwife will also give you information relevant to your stage of pregnancy, and you’ll have the opportunity to ask any questions that have come up since your last appointment. Antenatal visits are commonly 4-6 weekly in the beginning of pregnancy, 2-3 weekly in the third trimester, and 1-2 weekly in the last month.
Labour & Birth
Every labour and birth is different and it can be difficult to prepare with such a vast array of possible outcomes. You will work through some birth planning and create a birth preference list with your midwife in the later stages of your pregnancy, and your midwifery team is on call to attend your labour and birth. If you experience complexities in your labour or birth then the appropriate specialists will be involved in this also – usually obstetricians or anaesthetists. For normal pregnancies, we encourage home or the birthing centre in Bethlehem as the ideal location for birth, and for those who have developed complications of pregnancy, Tauranga Hospital is the best option.
Postnatal
After you have had your baby, your midwife remains your primary health carer and will visit you for about a month after your baby is born. These visits are to help get baby feeding well, to carry out appropriate testing, to give information and education relevant for the stage you and your baby are at, and again an opportunity to ask questions. Postnatal visits happen more frequently in the first week, and then spread out as you gain confidence and get to know your baby better. Your midwife will commonly visit you about seven times in this first month. After this month, your care is handed over to your Well Child provider (Pepi Ora and Plunket are the most well known of these) and your GP, and your midwifery care ends at this point.
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