Antenatal Stories Paint a Local Picture
Antenatal care – the foundational piece of the child development journey, but how accessible is this care in the Wimmera Southern Mallee?
At By Five, we continue to advocate for all women to have access to quality care close to home. Unfortunately, for so many women, it can be challenging to receive continued care throughout their pregnancy in our region. This is due to a range of factors including distance, lack of childcare, appointment availability, juggling demands such as work and other children… The list goes on.
Collecting stories from local women about their experiences throughout pregnancy helps us to continue to understand these barriers, highlight what’s working well, and supports our advocacy work in this space. We would love to hear from more women around the region, just like Danielle from Edenhope who has generously shared her story below. Share your story here.
Danielle Grindlay – Edenhope
Harrow to Hamilton approx. 90km, Edenhope to Hamilton approx. 120km
Danielle and her husband lived in Harrow for their first three children, and in Edenhope for the fourth child. Danielle had all of her babies in Hamilton.
Danielle travelled to Hamilton for all of her appointments, and whilst she was able to attend all of these, it wasn’t without a great deal of stress due to severe hyperemesis gravidarum through all her pregnancies.
“I needed to take my other children with me for appointments, but would have to regularly stop on the side of the road and rest. It was so important for me to get to each appointment so that I had that continuity with my doctor and the midwives.”
In addition to this, Danielle struggled with mental health issues and found support through the PANDA hotline. Danielle commented that while she had a great relationship with her doctor, they did not always have time to discuss her challenges at length, and while the midwives were also good, she generally saw a different one for each appointment.
“My doctor offered medication, which wasn’t effective, but there really wasn’t any other form of support for debilitating symptoms, except when I ended up in hospital with dehydration. I often wondered what services were available in Melbourne for people in my position. Looking back, I needed mental health support and help to manage symptoms. I felt very alone, overwhelmed and isolated.”
Danielle felt privileged to have continuity of care with her doctor, and she felt he advocated for her to be able to book in appointments when she needed and understood the long distance she would need to travel. He would also advocate for her to stay in hospital post-birth for as long as she needed. She had great support from local nurses and MCH nurses who would care for her when she returned home. It was only a 6 week postnatal check that she would need to go back to Hamilton for.
