Can your homebirth midwives still help you if you leave the area?

[Sanne Panne]

I'm registered with the Oakwood midwives for baby 2 (had a great homebirth with them with baby 1) and currently live in ED. We're looking for a bigger (rental) home within ED but we can't seem to find anything and since I'm 27 weeks pregnant we're starting to feel the heat... so we're thinking of including Herne Hill in our search (other neighbouring areas aren't as convenient for my husband's commute). I doubt the Oakwood midwives are able to come to a home birth in Herne Hill so I'm wondering if anyone knows if your local midwives will normally help you transfer to another team (that would otherwise be booked up, especially for a birth that's less than 3 months away) or if you're pretty much on your own if you move away.

Of course I should just ask Oakwood themselves but it's the start of the Easter weekend and I'm not going to page them for this, yet we want to get on with our house search!

[mumof3girlies]

I am pretty sure they would keep you on their books, particularly as you had baby no.1 with them. I think if you were moving really far - like North London or even southwest London, they would have to transfer you to more local midwives but Herne Hill is still comparatively close. I had all my babies with Albany Midwives (now instinct :'() and their policy was to still look after women as long as they were in south east London and within a 15-20 minute car journey so they could get to women in labour. I would proceed with your home search - let us know what they say though!

[Ruth_Baldock]

I was planning a homebirth with Baby Baldock, through Peckham Way midwives, and my care kept being transferred to Newington Green midwives because of lack of cover in the area- I imagine if Oakwood MW couldn't keep you on their books, so to speak, they'd arrange for your care to be transferred. The days before Baby Baldock was born, though, NO ONE had homebirth cover, and he ended up being a proper crash c-section at Kings anyway, but there wasn't any cover...anywhere (he was born 'round Xmas though...)

[Sanne Panne]

I hope that Oakwood are like Albany and that they'll keep me on their books mumof3girlies! Otherwise a transfer to another good team will be fine too... as long as I don't get left out and end up having to go to hospital (I had a very fast labour with my first so I'm not even sure I'll make it to hospital with the second... this is why the idea of going anywhere freaks me out).

[craigy]

Cannot imagine it would be too much of a problem for them as you are within the Kings catchment and only really an extra 5-10 min drive for them, think it would be more of an issue of you moved out of the Kings area as then it comes down to whether they can practice in that area...