So many of my friends highly recommended the Domino scheme in Dublin and I’m glad they did as I had an amazing experience with them.

As all first time mums, I was overwhelmed by this new chapter in my life but meeting the midwives put me immediately at ease. They were such a lovely group of girls and it was a very wholesome experience.

Initially I checked if I was eligible for the scheme. Here is a list of criteria you will need to meet: https://www.nmh.ie/_fileupload/tables/table-16-eligibility-criteria-for-booking-with-midwifery-led-clinic-at-the-nmh-3.pdf

Then I emailed commw1@nmh.ie to let them know I wanted to sign up for the scheme. I then received an email confirmation of my appointment with one of their midwives and an appointment for my first scan in Holles Street. This is how the first appointment will go with the midwives: https://www.nmh.ie/maternity/your-first-antenatal-appointment-midwife-led-clinic.22581.html

Your antenatal appointments will be shared between the midwives and your gp. To give you an insight as to how the appointments are managed, here is a link - https://www.nmh.ie/_fileupload/tables/table-14-guide-to-your-antenatal-visits-at-holles-outpatient-department-at-the-nmh-1.pdf

While there are doctors on hand during your labour with the midwives, their ethos is to encourage a natural birth without intervention. With that said, they will give you all of the information for all possible outcomes and their end goal is to ensure the safety of you and your baby.

They are there to help you throughout your pregnancy and are so welcoming to assist any worries you may have. They have a bleep system you can contact them on at any hour.

After birth, if there are no complications, their preference is to get you back to the comfort of your own home approximately 6 hours after you give birth. For me personally, this was my preference as visiting hours in the hospital end at 9pm. Due to giving birth after 5pm and further checks they had to do on my baby, I stayed for one night but the girls were on hand throughout the night.

When you are discharged, the midwives will come to your house daily to check up on you for up to 10 days, this was a godsend for me as I felt so much relief seeing them. I’m sure you can imagine with it being my first time, I had a list of questions I wanted their advice with. Overall I had a lovely experience with The Domino Team and I feel very grateful for such a successful birth.