I gave birth in Feb 2018 at Epworth maternity hospital & it was the worst experience ever!! Do not use this hospital. My baby was born low weight at 2.7 Kgs & I only had a very small amount of colostrum to give (early breast milk) & I kept telling every midwife that came to check on me that I don't believe my baby is getting enough milk, but they kept telling me 'no no it's ok', new borns only need a small amount of milk'. They hand expressed my breasts as well & my nipples were so very bruised & painful to an extent that breast feeding was almost out of the question after that. They used a plastic syringe to get drops of milk from my breasts, that's how little milk I had. Then every few hours a mid wife would come in or some other, there was never any time to rest or sleep. I had an exhausting labour like most women & I never slept to recover while I was in hospital. I came home & got more rest! On the last night at Epworth, the midwife checked my baby's weight at 1:30AM!! & came back saying bub is only 2.3Kgs & has lost more than 10% of his body weight! The whole night I was told to stay up & express breast milk using a pump! Till I was discharged the next morning. They made it seem like it was my fault that bub had lost so much weight while in hospital, when I had kept complaining that he needs formula the whole time! Which they never gave me! When I was discharged, the older midwifes told me to come back one day later to weigh my baby again as bub had lost so much weight. So I came back, with a new born baby, drove almost one hour, when I could barely walk & I met the head midwife, with short cropped white hair & she asked me why I had come!! They had no idea! So I told her & she weighed my baby & said bub is still not back at his birth weight! Duh!!! Epworth starved my baby by not giving formula for the duration of my stay & then expects me to fatten my baby up in one day of staying at home, 400 grams lost over 4 days at hospital can not be regained in one day!! How on earth did these women get qualifications to become midwives???!!! So I had come back to hospital with my new born baby for nothing!!! When I could barely walk!! Drove one hour!! The head midwife then asked me who she should inform of my baby's updated birth weight?!!I'm the mother, I knew my baby needed more than just my tiny amount of breast milk & I kept telling every midwife! And they kept ignoring me & never gave formula. On the last night after staying up the whole night expressing breast milk I asked for a laxative & the midwife was trying to come up with excuses to not give it to me! She kept saying it won't have an impact for 48 hours! So what!? It would make my life easier once I get home & give me some time to heal & get things settled at home! In the end I demanded it a few hours before I was discharged & she gave it. Then she was late to hand over, this is the same old midwife with the short cropped brown hair wearing pants who told me that I must come back to hospital to reweigh my baby on Monday, I was discharged on the Saturday. The same women who made me stay up the whole night & express breast milk the night before I was discharged. The same women who kept knocking on my door every 2 hours (by accident) to make sure I never fell asleep, the same women who brought my bub back one hour early from the nursery, the same women who told me to come back to hospital one day later for nothing!! (apparently to reweigh my baby, which nobody wanted to know when I did drive back one day later).
Most of the obstetricians at Epworth also work at St Vincents & Frances Perry House, so best to go to either of these hospitals for your labour. Do not use Epworth!! The younger midwives below the age of 35 were lovely, but none of them gave my baby any formula either, when I expressed my concerns. The older midwives over the age 40 including the head midwife should be fired! They should have never been hired! The catering was great & so were the cleaners. Overall, do not use this hospital to give birth, they seem to think baby formula is toxic & the older midwives over the age of 40 need to be fired including the head midwife. My baby is almost eight months now & has been fed formula since coming home from Epworth & is happy healthy & weighs ten kilos. There was absolutely no need for the hell that the older midwives gave me while I was staying at Epworth. Being at home was heaven compared to Epworth.

Approximate cost: $8000

I gave birth to my first baby on Feb 6th 2018. Joe & all staff were very professional & attentive from start to end. The midwives & receptionists provided a fantastic service. All were friendly. Joe is very experienced at his job & knowledgable. I felt confident throughout my pregnancy. All my questions were answered by Joe & midwives. Joe made sure my baby was growing well as expected till the end, by scan.
'Most importantly' Joe was present during my labour & he delivered my baby. All went well, I had a natural birth. Joe was always available to answer any questions prior to birth & post birth. For the duration of my stay at Epworth, Joe visited every day to see how things were going with bub & myself & answer any questions I had. Overall great professional service. You & your baby will be in safe hands.

Approximate cost: $5000

Stayed for 2 nights on a weekend at this rainforest retreat, it was horrible. We stayed in the Cinderella chalet, it's meant to be luxury, but it's far from it. The cushions on the bed as well as the quilt smelt stale as if the linen had not been washed in years.The bathroom door wouldn't shut,we told the manager and he ignored it saying to shut it slowly, we tried everything and ended up jamming the door with a slipper every time one of us needed to use the toilet. The electricity went out when we were in the spa in the evening, we had to walk to the managers place at night to get him to fix it, there was a huge spider bigger than the size of an adults man's hand in the kitchen sink and there were bugs and spiders outside every where so we kept the doors and windows shut the whole time. It is in the middle of the bush so expect bugs and huge spiders. Overall it was far from luxury, I felt like I had been camping among the insects and bugs and unwashed linen! Would never go there again.

Approximate cost: $675.00