At the end of January I put up the balloons and streamers and cooked a cake to celebrate my little boy's second birthday- how quickly that came around right!?
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After the party and the celebration had ended, I found myself reflecting on my pregnancy and early motherhood and the potential of having another baby in the future. Don't stress Derek! This isn't a baby announcement!
But the coincidence of my reflection came at the same time as the official opening of the new Mount Isa Maternity Hub, near the Child Health Clinic on Lucy Street. A new service to provide consistency and continued support to expecting and new mums in Mount Isa.
In a nutshell expecting mums are assigned a midwife to consistently see throughout their pregnancy, with the midwife also delivering the baby and providing postpartum support. I think this is an amazing model of care which has been newly established in Mount Isa but has been in the region for many years.
While I was living in Cloncurry with a low-risk pregnancy, I was referred to the local midwife - Chelsea.
For every pregnancy question, examination, test result, check up - I went to Chelsea - and with this model of care I had the consistency of seeing her face-to-face every check up and connecting with her as we went on the journey of preparing for the delivery of my baby.
We discussed what pain relief options were available and what I wanted and not only that, Chelsea also delivered my baby in the Mount Isa Hospital and I would not have had it any other way!
I wanted a natural labour and despite me screaming at Chelsea to give me an epidural, she talked me through the other options that were available (like she had done in our prior consults) so I could still have a natural labour like initially wanted.
After our little bundle of joy was born, the care didn't stop there. We travelled to Cloncurry to Chelsea for Toby's weigh-ins and milestone check ups.
This was the most amazing process, to have a consistency of information, care and kindness and I am so glad that Mount Isa now has a Maternity Hub to provide mums with the same level of care that I experienced.
- Senior Journalist Samantha Campbell.
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Samantha Campbell
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
