West Australian Childbirth Support and Resources

Patsy Lee April 16, 2024 0 Comments

A healthy pregnancy is every expectant mother’s best bet for an equally healthy birth. It is the only thing she has control over, while everything else is entirely out of her hands. That’s why it is very crucial to get an early head start on prenatal care to be able to have a better chance of achieving a healthy pregnancy. In fact, you can start even way before the actual pregnancy occurs by visiting your doctor or health care provider of choice.

“When my wife was pregnant with our first child, we knew it was super important to be organised. Running a busy West Australian roofing company, we were very mindful that we needed to look at our birthing options as early as possible.” says Nick Marsden, who runs a prominent Perth roof restoration service.

Options for Childbirth Support in Western Australia

Each mother has a specific preference when it comes to the kind of childbirth care and support. Good thing that WA offers several options that cater to the different situations of the expectant mum and her spouse or partner. Some of these are the following.

General Practitioners

Your GP is your top doctor or your go-to practitioner once you suspect or realise that you are pregnant. With them, you can discuss the different options for your pregnancy care, where to give birth, and if you’ve been seeing them for a certain illness, a discussion of possible issues or do’s and don’ts because of these pre-existing conditions.

There are general practitioners from many hospitals who also offer shared care. This means that the GP will provide prenatal checkups up to 20 weeks of your pregnancy. From here on, the shared care appointments with a hospital commence. If no complication is seen, you may continue seeing the GP until the 36^th week when you will be seen by the hospital professionals until the date of the baby’s delivery.

Obstetricians

You can be taken care of right away by an obstetrician; a practitioner that specialises in caring for women during pregnancy and after birth and is actually in charge of delivering the baby and other surgeries that are related to giving birth. As a doctor, they treat conditions and illnesses that are unique to pregnancy.

Private patients get to choose their doctors and hospitals and the costs will either be paid out of pocket or either partially or fully covered by private insurance. Prenatal appointments with obstetricians are usually not covered by private insurance. However, they may be covered in part by Medicare.

Private Practice Midwives

These are midwives who are not connected to any community midwifery program nor linked to any hospitals. However, some of them may have admitting rights to a few hospitals in Western Australia. If you have a low-risk pregnancy, prenatal checkups can be done by these midwives in the comfort of your home or at their private office or place of business, if you mutually agree.

They will be in charge of your entire pregnancy care up to birth and postpartum period, where you will be benefiting from continuity of care. Please note though that they will have a backup midwife as it is required to have two midwives in attendance when you give birth and who will also act as backup when they can’t attend for some reason.

Publicly Funded Midwives

These are midwives who work in the Community Midwifery Program or anything similar who lend their service to the public. Getting services from them means they will be in charge of your care from start to finish of your pregnancy journey. Take note that the group practices of these midwives can also extend to providing home birth services.

Where to give birth in Western Australia

Depending on where you reside in Western Australia, how much are you willing to spend, how much your insurance can cover, or the recommendation of your doctor based on your risk factors, the following are some of your options.

Birthing Centre

This is ideal for those healthy, uncomplicated, and low-risk pregnancies and are covered by Medicare. This comes with an option to have you transferred to a hospital should you want it or if there will ever be a need due to complications during labour.

Home Birth

Another option for a healthy and uncomplicated pregnancy is delivering the baby at home. However, anything is a possibility that even those low-risk deliveries can sometimes meet some unforeseen issues that need to be taken care of at a better-equipped facility. With this, you can request to be brought to the hospital. These are typically covered by Medicare for eligible midwives.

Public Care in Public Hospitals

Western Australia pregnant residents have the privilege of maternity services in its public hospitals and the costs are typically covered by Medicare. In fact, general hospital care is provided by their doctors, GPs, and midwives at any public hospital that is closest to your place of residence.

Some of the maternity hospitals within the Perth metropolitan area include the following:

• Armadale Health Service – 9391 2000 (ahs@health.wa.gov.au)
• Fiona Stanley Hospital (Family Birth Centre) – 6152 9416 (Fsh.FamilyBirthingCentre@health.wa.gov.au)
• Fiona Stanley Hospital (external site) – 6152 2222
• Joondalup Health Campus – 9400 9400
• King Edward Memorial Hospital – (08) 6458 2222 
• King Edward Memorial Hospital (Family Birth Centre) – (08) 6458 1800
• Osborne Park Hospital – 6457 8010
• St John of God Midland Public Hospital – (08) 9462 4000

Private Care in Public Hospitals

Australia’s public maternity hospitals provide high-quality pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care. However, it is also possible to get special attention even if you’re utilising a public facility and service.

In short, even public hospitals cater to private pregnancy care should you need it in Western Australia and Medicare usually covers the costs. A few hospitals even allow the sharing of services between the doctor and the hospital staff to ensure utmost care.

Private Doctors in Private Hospitals

When you desire undivided attention when it comes to your pregnancy care, taking the private service route is the way to go. However, be prepared to spend out of pocket if you don’t have private health insurance. 

This option is very flexible if you don’t want to limit the type of service that you will need. For example, in cases where complications arise during labour, your doctor may refer you to a public hospital.

Birth Support and Resources in Queensland

Patsy Lee March 20, 2024 0 Comments

Medical professionals cannot stress enough the importance of getting quality care for the duration of the pregnancy for expectant mothers. This is to ensure that both the mother and the baby are healthy. The mother should be healthy enough to host and nurture the baby in her womb and the baby needs to get a great head start at life by being in the best possible health.

Good prenatal care includes ensuring that the mother gets the all-important nutrition and does all the appropriate health habits not only during pregnancy but even before, if it was a planned one. Good thing, Australia has an excellent health support system that all you need to do as a citizen is to choose the right option according to your actual need. If you are pregnant or a partner or spouse of one residing anywhere in the state of Queensland, here are your birth support options, along with some resources for your convenience.

5 Top Maternity Support Options in QLD

Publicly Funded Midwives’ Continuity of Care

This option is where your maternity care will be provided by a midwife or a team of midwives from the majority of the public hospitals and health centres within the state of QLD. To have access to them, it usually requires a referral from your doctor. This literally means you will be handled by the same midwife or group of midwives throughout your pregnancy.

Privately-Practising Midwife Care

As the name suggests, you will be taken care of by a midwife or group of midwives that are practising their profession in their private clinics or office, with visiting access to hospitals and medical centres, for the entire duration of your pregnancy, birth, and up to postnatal care. With this, it will be up to you to decide whether to give birth at home or in a hospital. Also, the services of these midwives might be covered by Medicare.

GP Shared Maternity Care

This is where your care is handled by both your GP and the local hospital’s midwives and doctors. This is usually the option when there are inherent risks in the pregnancy that a general practitioner is not able to handle.

You can also have this setup where you will see solely your GP for up to 20 weeks and then meet a midwife or an obstetrician thereafter, until the 40th week. However, please check first whether this service is available or offered by your GP as some do not offer shared maternity care.

Private Obstetric Care

For this option, you will be provided care by an obstetrician who is a medical doctor in private practice that specialises in the medical care of the pregnant until birth, particularly those with complicated or special cases. Please note that choosing to be cared for through this and deliver in a private hospital, you need to secure a referral from your GP.

Public Hospital Maternity Care

With this, prenatal care is provided by doctors and/or midwives employed in public hospitals’ outpatient clinics, whether they be onsite or outreach. After birth, care may be continued either at home or in community centres by the hospital midwives.

Options Where to Give Birth

The choice of where to deliver your baby is up to you. However, the factors that will affect your decision include whether you have a high or low-risk pregnancy and where you live in Australia. 

Based on these, your doctor may recommend some options that they think might suit your case and what will make you and your baby the safest yet convenient, particularly if you are located in rural Queensland. Some of these include the following.

Home Birth

This option is ideal for healthy and low-risk pregnancies based on the assessment of your doctor or midwife. The cost of home birth is usually covered by Medicare for eligible midwives, however doulas are a private expense.

“Being a business owner with a lot of competing demands on my time, I was hoping to have as smooth a birth as possible. Home birth was perfect for me and allowed my husband and I to be relaxed and comfortable in our own home in Dutton Park Ironically, we live less than 1 kilometre from some of Brisbane’s best public and private hospitals – The Mater, Greenslopes and Princess Alexandra (the PA)” says Samantha Graham, owner of Brisbane Tree Removal.

In cases where complications arise during labour, you can request to be brought to a hospital. Since it is not uncommon to happen, talking to local hospitals near you in advance about the help you could possibly need will be a great precautionary step to take.

Private Hospitals’ Private Care 

This is probably the most desired situation as you get to choose your own private doctor or obstetrician coming from private hospitals. This is of course ideal for those who have the means to finance this exclusive service or those who have secured private health insurance that can help them cover the cost.

Public Birth Centre

Another option for those with healthy, uncomplicated pregnancies is to give birth at a public birth centre as this is very cost-effective because the service is usually covered by Medicare. There are available public birth centres in Mackay, Toowoomba, and Townsville if you are anywhere near these areas. But at your preference or if any complication arises during labour, you can ask to be transferred to a proper hospital.

Should you need to inquire beforehand, there are five available birth centres within Queensland. Here are their contact details:

• Gold Coast Hospital Birth Centre — (07) 5687 1437
• Mackay Birth Centre — (07) 4885 6000
• Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital — (07) 3646 8111
• Toowoomba Base Hospital Birth Centre — (07) 4616 6000
• Townsville University Hospital Birth Centre — (07) 4433 2779.

Public Hospitals’ Private Care

You can choose your own obstetrician or doctor to take care of your pregnancy by opting to give birth in a private hospital. With this, you can use your private health insurance to cover some of the costs if you are able to secure coverage. Here is a map of the available rural and remote public health centres and hospitals around Queensland.

Public Hospitals’ Public Care 

Here, you can avail of the public hospitals’ midwives for your pregnancy care. However, doctors are also another option should you need them or your baby. The good news is that public hospitals’ services are usually under Medicare’s coverage.

Childbirth and Pregnancy Support in Canberra, ACT

Patsy Lee March 16, 2024 0 Comments

Picture this. Those babies born to mothers who did not undergo prenatal care are threefold likely to suffer from low birth weight and five times more likely to die as compared to those whose mothers sought care early into the pregnancy.

These can be prevented by seeing a specialist early on because they can identify potential problems as they observe mothers every scheduled checkup. This allows doctors to treat these health issues as soon as possible before they create bigger problems and affect both the mother and the baby if left untreated.

Antenatal/Prenatal Care

At first sign of pregnancy or even if you just suspect that you are pregnant, your immediate reaction would be to go to your GP to confirm your suspicion. Once it is proven that you are indeed having a baby, the doctor can begin the necessary initial steps in pregnancy care like organising initial workups such as ultrasounds and initial blood tests. These are not deterred by your decision on where or how you decide to deliver the baby. Still if you’re starting to dilate, you may want to save exterior cleaning of your Canberra home for a later date.

Pregnancy Care and Childbirth Options in Canberra

Foetal Medicine Unit

Here is where those high-risk and complex pregnancies are referred to for them to be able the get the specialised care and supervision for both the mother and the baby. At Centenary Hospital’s FMU, specialist doctors, midwives, and sonographers will take care of your pregnancy for that all-important “continuity of care”.

Along the way, some team members may be asked to check up on you such as the genetics doctors, neonatologists, and anaesthetists. When the time comes for your labour and birth, a team of doctors and midwives will take over at the Birthing Suite.

However, this setup can be altered if after the initial appointment or after a few of them, it is decided that you are safe to have regular pregnancy care. They will let you know about this and will help you book the right clinic and practitioner for you. You can even ask them for contact details for a doula, if you wish.

Homebirth

This Australian capital has been running a three-year trial for babies to be delivered at home, with support from a midwife. Prior to this, a primary midwife is assigned to look after you for the duration of your pregnancy leading up to the actual birth. However, to be eligible for this, one of the requirements is you have to be living within 15 minutes from the Centenary Hospital.

Midwives

These are healthcare professionals who have trained in providing care for women during pregnancy, delivery, and postnatal period. They can work either in public institutions or they can work independently in their private clinics.

When you have chosen a midwife for your pregnancy care, they will usually collaborate with other healthcare professionals when necessary. You also have the option to deliver the baby in a birth centre or at the Centenary Hospital’s birth suite.

Obstetricians

You may opt to be taken care of by the actual medical professional who was trained exactly for overseeing pregnancy and delivering the baby and skip those in between like the GP and the midwives. After all, these professionals will often consult the obstetrician when complications in the pregnancy arise.

These specialists can deliver your baby either in a public or a private hospital, depending on the necessity or your preference. Also, obstetricians are available whether you attend a prenatal in a public hospital or a clinic, or you can also be seen by one via a referral by your GP.

Shared Care

This is where you see your doctor for your prenatal care for the whole duration of the pregnancy, but you also see a midwife or a doctor at a hospital or clinic in between. If any complications arise, you may also be sent to see an obstetrician.

The actual birth will be done at a birth suite, where you will be accompanied by a medical staff. Thereafter, you will be brought to a postnatal ward for your recovery.

Specialist Team Care

If you have a particularly complicated pregnancy, you might be referred to a Specialist Team Care composed of midwives, medical, and allied health staff. As a resident of ACT, you will be visited by a midwife at home after you have been discharged from the hospital.

These services are available at the North Canberra Hospital and Centenary Hospital for Women and Children.

ACT Public Maternity System

If you have decided to go with Canberra’s public maternity for your pregnancy care, two public maternity hospitals will be your options: the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children (Garran) and the North Canberra Hospital (Bruce).

Before you will be allowed an appointment with these hospitals, you need to do the following steps:

1. You need to sign up for MyDHR through an online registration which can be accessed via the website or mobile app. This is where you can access and update all your health details, schedule, and manage all your future appointments in the facilities.
2. Learn all about your options when it comes to your maternity and birthing care. If in case your first choice is not possible due to your medical history or the hospital can no longer accommodate you due to slots being already filled up, a midwife will call you to discuss the alternatives.
3. Call the Central Health Intake at 5124 9977 to register and answer important questions like when is your baby due, your hospital of choice, and your chosen maternity care.
4. Your first prenatal appointment with the midwife will be set between 12 and 14 weeks. You will be notified of the confirmation of your first appointment and you will also receive a reminder so you won’t forget the details.

What Is a Doula and What Do They Do?

Patsy Lee April 4, 2023 0 Comments

Pregnancy is one difficult phase that women go through, especially when it’s their first time. There’s the physical aspect such as gaining weight and changes in body shape, and for some, even the texture of the skin changes. Then, there are the emotional and psychological aspects because of the hormones. These changes can be abrupt and these expectant mothers might not have been prepared for all of these that they can be so overwhelmed.

That’s where Doula comes in for support through all of these. They are basically trained professional birth coaches who provide physical, informational, emotional, and mental support to mothers and expectant mothers to get through prenatal to postpartum with ease. They are non-medical labour assistants that provide care to women during childbirth, miscarriage, stillbirth, or even induced abortion. 

However, contrary to common beliefs, Doulas do not only support women during these phases of their lives. They can even extend support to the husband and family members as well. Some even deal with non-reproductive phases of life such as end-of-life support.

Related posts:

• Childbirth and Pregnancy Support in Canberra, ACT
• Birth Support and Resources in Queensland

Key Roles of a Doula

Doulas are not really that common in Australia. However, because women have become more and more aware of what they want and need during their pregnancy journey, doulas are becoming increasingly popular than they used to. Here are some reasons why.

Support Patients’ Physical, Mental, and Emotional State

Because Doulas are specifically trained to be of service during women’s labour and childbirth, they are knowledgeable and experienced in giving comfort and managing the mother’s labour pains through strategies and the use of different tools. They can also provide suggestions about how to maintain a safe and efficient birthing.

In terms of emotional and mental state, doulas help in conditioning both the mother and the husband or partner on the right attitude and expectations to achieve their birth goals and ensure safety and efficiency.

While the mother is in the labour or delivery room, doulas can provide the partner reassurance from time to time that everything is part of the process and that everything is okay. This can be particularly crucial during a long labour, which means the other half can take a rest physically and mentally so they can make informed and sound decisions for the benefit of both the mother and the child.

Ensure Stress-Free and Safe Pre- And Post-natal Environment

Doulas are mainly expected to create an environment for mothers’ need for care, warmth, safety, and protection while in their vulnerable state, from prenatal which extends up to after giving birth. Part of their training is to provide you with information that is proven to help mothers-to-be prepare for D-day. 

At post-natal, they can assist in feeding the baby and in the mother’s adjusting to life together with the newborn. They can help you with any position that you are comfortable with sitting or lying down and may even assist you in bathing, should you wish. They can even guide you with proper breathing and may provide you with other calming methods if you are stressed by your new situation.

Facilitate Communication With the Patients’ Medical Team

Couples may be confused with so many details that the mother’s medical team has ordered that they either may often overlook some important cues for medical emergencies or they can sometimes be overly paranoid over simple symptoms that shouldn’t be too concerning to call the doctor. Doulas can be very helpful in identifying the difference between these two.

They can provide you with guidance on what to ask your OB-Gynaecologist or Midwife, or when it is time to seek more than just a Q & A. Doulas’ assistance has a huge impact on the mothers’ decisions come birthing time which can definitely affect the level of satisfaction with the eventual outcome.

Create Peaceful and Respectful Birthing

Perhaps 100% of labouring women prefer complete privacy during this time. But besides wanting to be left alone in this vulnerable state, a warm, quiet, and dark room can minimise the release of adrenaline which is known to inhibit labour and eventually delay giving birth.

Also, when in an environment with natural aesthetics, the body can maximise the effect on its endorphins which helps the mother relax and somehow feel less pain. With the Doula’s help, they can work with the husband or partner and the mother’s medical team to ensure that this is achieved.

Proven Benefits of Doula’s Services

Different studies have shown and documented the proven benefits of having a doula by the mother’s side during labour and some of these are the following:

• Improved breastfeeding.
• Improved interaction between mother and infant.
• The incidence of postpartum depression was reduced.
• Increased maternal satisfaction.
• Reduction of caesarean rate by 50%.
• Reduction in analgesia use by 30%.
• Reduction in epidural requests by 60%.
• Reduction in forceps delivery by 40%.
• Reduction in oxytocin use by 40%.
• Shorten labour by 25%.

Not Part of a Doula’s Services

It is important to note that despite doulas assisting in pregnancy and birthing which are considered medical situations that can cause symptoms ranging from mild discomfort to even death, they are NOT medical professionals. Hence, they are not to be expected to diagnose illnesses and conditions and give medical advice.

They are not also expected to know how to deliver a baby nor how to perform tasks such as foetal heart monitoring or vaginal examinations. And most importantly, don’t expect them to replace the emotional support that your husband or partner can provide. Manage your expectations when hiring a doula and better yet, ask as many questions as possible before deciding to hire one.