Passionate Births

Emma after a few hours.

Anouk rang me to say that she was off to her gynaecologist Candice Roberts in Ballito for a check up and was hoping it was her last one.

A few hours later she rang back to say she was 3 cm and she was off to Gateway for a super walk in the mall before booking into the hospital in Ballito.

Quintus fetched me in Hilton and we went down the N3 which was the worst possible time in the late afternoon. We hit enormous traffic jams close to Durban and it took us over two hours to get to Ballito.

By this stage Anouk was feeling her contractions and we went for many walks around the hospital till late than evening.  Up and down stairs and we had to keep stopping for each contraction.

Quintus and I took it in turns to do counter pressure and keep Anouk steady.  As the night progressed so did the painful contractions and Anouk was enjoying the massages.  Near the final stages of labour Anouk decided on an epidural as she felt that the pain was all too much.  It was not very long after her epidural that she was full dilated and the baby's head just needed to come down.  Dr Candice Roberts arrived at 2am and little Emma was born at 02h50.  Her dad Quintus got to birth her himself as they are both paeds and Candice watched while he birthed his little girl.

Emma was healthy and she was allowed to have skin on skin, delayed cord cutting and stay with her mum and dad till 6am in the labour ward. What a special time for the bonding to take place. The hospital offers the most natural approach to any others in KZN.

Alberlito Hospital

February 1st 2007 marked the opening of the Alberlito Hospital which is situated in Ballito on the KwaZulu Natal North Coast. Alberlito Hospital is named after a humanitarian, a member of Parliament and a leader of our community, Dr Albertina Luthuli. She is the daughter of Nobel Laureate, Albert Luthuli, who grew up in the Ballito area.The hospital is a state of the art facility equipped with cutting edge advanced medical technology, providing quality patient care to the community and greater surrounding areas.

It opened with five operating theatres ,120 beds and boasts finishes and facilities equivalent to that of a five-star hotel. It has been designed to accommodate future growth and will ultimately develop into a much larger Hospital.

At Alberlito Hospital, expect more than to heal the body and mind, we also aim to touch the soul. The pride we take in the delivery of our special brand of compassionate and intimate care is unrivaled. Your comfort is our priority and we do our best to delight. We live by our vision ?Caring for the wellbeing of those we serve?.

It was an absolute pleasure to work in a hospital of this quality and I was treated so well by all the midwives in the maternity unit.