The Royal Women’s Hospital provides pregnancy care for:
|
- all women who live within our local area; and
- women from across Victoria who require specialist care
|
|
The majority of pregnancies and births are low-risk and straight-forward. To ensure all women can access the level of care they require, you should attend your local maternity hospital for your pregnancy care.
Over the past three years, the number of women having a baby in metropolitan Melbourne has risen by 15.5%. During the same period, the number of women having a baby at the Women’s increased by more than 24%.
In mid-2007, the Victorian State Government announced a range of measures to address this unexpected increase in demand to ensure all women can access the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
These initiatives aimed to help the three specialist maternity hospitals, the Women’s, Monash Medical Centre and Mercy Hospital for Women, to fulfil their specialist role by prioritising the care of complex and high-risk pregnancies.
|
If at any time your pregnancy becomes complicated, or is considered to be high risk, you will be referred to one of the State’s three specialist hospitals - the Women’s, Mercy Hospital for Women or Monash Medical Centre - for specialist care.
|
If you or your GP are unsure if you live within the Women's local area, or whether your pregnancy may be high risk, you should call our Pregnancy Bookings service.
|
If you live within the Women's local area, or require specialist pregnancy care, you will need a GP referral for your first pregnancy booking. Your first pregnancy visit will take place at the Pregnancy Booking Clinic, either at the hospital or one of our community clinics.
|
At the Pregnancy Booking Clinic, your midwife/doctor needs to record a large amount of information and discuss a wide range of issues with you, including:
|
- when your baby is due
- information that may affect your pregnancy (it is also an opportunity for you to ask questions)
- an assessment of your health and your baby’s health, and whether you are likely to have a straightforward pregnancy or whether you have more complex and diverse pregnancy needs.
|
|
Refer to pregnancy care options for more information about pregnancy care at the Women's.
|
