Our little hospital

For anyone who knows me really well, you know I have not always lived in a small town. In fact, I grew up in the city! Despite that I've always enjoyed small town life and got to experience some small town & farm life by hanging with friends from the church I grew up in.

One of the great benefits to living in a small town is our local hospital, which is small, but super! I feel so blessed that I can walk to the hospital, and have on several occasions; for births, x-rays and for trips to the ER with my kidlets. In the city people have to wait hours upon hours to be seen in the ER, not the case at our small hospital, I think the longest I've ever had to wait was 2 hours!

Obi was born in our little hospital and it was such a wonderful experience. Imagine only 2 delivery rooms! We are so fortunate to have an awesome staff of nurses who work at our hospital and some really great MD's that deliver (my favourite of which is moving away in a month...our loss!!). What saddens me is that the majority of women in the area who get pregnant choose to deliver their babies in the larger towns or cities that surround us. My last few births have been in London which is over an hour away. I haven't attended a birth at my local hospital for a year and a half and I really miss it! It's such a great experience to walk in and know the nurses you will be working with. Not only do I know the nurses here, but they are all so wonderful and actually appreciate having a doula present because they know it's an extra person in the delivery room that can help them out. I shouldn't complain, I've had nothing but good experiences at all 7 hospitals that I've attended births in, but I know not all doulas have been so lucky (okay, I did have one negative experience with a nurse a few years back...guess I was blocking that one out :)

It makes me wonder why it is that the women from around here feel that they want to deliver at the bigger hospitals. I suppose when I had my first I also chose to go to a hospital that was more equipped for emergency situations or problems that could arise, so I guess I already know the answer to that question, it's just such a shame to see everyone leaving the county to have their babies :(

I don't mind attending births in the city, but not only is it a longer drive, and working with doctors and nurses I've probably never met, there are the issues of finding the hospital, figuring out where to go once I get there (Vic. was very confusing) and the issues of parking (and the price, and having to use those stinkin machines to pay for parking...can't I just pay a real person?). I'm so grateful that Joel got me my GPS for Christmas though, that has been a huge help to me!! It's so nice to be able to just punch in the address of the new client I'm visiting, or the hospital I have to find that I've never been to, and then just relax and drive ! It probably came in most handy on New Years day when I had to drive from St. Josephs in London to Stratford General after being awake for FAR too long and having no clue how to get from one hospital to the other.

The two clients that I have this month are both delivering in London...so I guess I'll just have to be patient and hope that someday I will be able to attend another birth in our lovely little hospital that's just a stones throw from my house :)

Mel