Following your first GP appointment to confirm your pregnancy you will be referred to the South West Healthcare Women’s Health Service, if you choose to have your baby with us.
You will usually have your first visit with us between weeks 8-12, with either a midwife or doctor.
Where to find us:
Level 4 – Women’s Health Service (WHS)
South West Healthcare
25 Ryot Street, Warrnambool
Monday to Friday: 8.30am – 4.30pm
Phone: 5564 4363 Fax: 5564 4370
WHS is located at South West Healthcare hospital, once inside the hospital, find your way to the central block lifts, in front of radiology and take these lifts to level 4.
What do I bring to an appointment?
Following your appointment with your midwife or doctor, please see the reception staff so they can organise further appointments as per the appointments schedule or as required for your situation.
SWH is a teaching hospital and we aim to provide the best possible experience and environment for nursing, midwifery, allied health, and medical students. Students may be involved in your care by asking to talk to or examine you. We want your experience to be the best one possible for you, so if you have any concerns or would prefer not to take part in training you have the right to say “No”, and we respect your right to do so.
The WHS works very closely with the Maternity Unit within the hospital (where you will birth your baby) to ensure we offer the best possible care and continuity for you, your baby and your family. The WHS is here to support women and their families with highly-skilled health professionals providing personalised care throughout pregnancy.
Pregnancy is an exciting and life-changing journey, we aim to equip both women and their families with the skills and knowledge they need around their pregnancy, the birth of their baby and the early weeks following.
What information we provide:The team of midwives and obstetric doctors at Women’s Health Service provide the following pregnancy services
The Women’s Health Service is here to support you and your family through your pregnancy with a team of highly-skilled midwives and obstetric doctors. We offer midwifery/obstetric led pregnancy care. Your antenatal appointments will be shared between both midwives and obstetric doctors, who will work together to provide holistic, personalised care throughout your pregnancy.
You can expect to have a minimum of 10 antenatal appointments in a low risk, full term pregnancy. Women with more complex needs may require additional appointments.
Midwife appointments can also be offered at the Camperdown campus for those women that live in the area.
The Continuity Midwife Program (CMP) allows for women to have access to a known/ regular midwife during their pregnancy, birth and after baby care. (As opposed to a team of midwives).
The program is ran by a small team of four experienced midwives and is offered to women with both high and low-risk pregnancies. Women also receive antenatal care from Obstetric doctors at 12, 28, 36 and 39 weeks during their pregnancy. The CMP have a capped capacity of 12 mothers per month and priority is often given to those women requiring extra assistance, so please don’t be disappointed if you don’t get on the program.
Learn more about the Continuity Midwife Program.
This service offers early pregnancy appointments to patients that have been referred by a GP. Generally this service assists women with high-risk pregnancies, and is overseen by our obstetric doctors. Women may be referred to this service for many reasons, some of which include: severe nausea and vomiting, pain, & bleeding, or existing health concerns.
The Koori Maternity Service (KMS) offered by Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative delivers culturally responsive and high-quality care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, babies, and families.
KMS provides flexible, holistic, and culturally-safe pregnancy and postnatal care for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women, women having Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies and their families.
This program consists of a partnership between the local hospital and the local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization, with access to a midwife and Aboriginal Healthcare Workers, General Practitioners, Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers, and community-based services.
This program acknowledges the deep connection to country and culture held by our indigenous families and ensures that each individual’s unique cultural identity is respected, and their needs meet by offering flexible and tailored appointments.
Please see Koori Maternity Service flyer for more information.
Shared Care refers to a form of pregnancy care where your appointments are split between your regular GP and our obstetric team. (Note: your doctor will need to be accredited to offer this service).
If you would prefer to do shared care during your pregnancy, we ask that you please make this known at your first GP appointment before they send an antenatal referral to the Women’s Health Service.
Shared maternity care is an option for all women who have been assessed by the hospital as healthy and with a normal pregnancy. It is South West Healthcare’s responsibility to establish a woman’s suitability for shared maternity care, but it is valuable if shared maternity care has been discussed prior to referral and a woman’s preference indicated on the referral to the hospital.
If you are undertaking shared care with your GP , you will also receive antenatal care from South West Healthcare’s obstetric doctors at 12, 28, 36 and 39 weeks of your pregnancy at the Women’s Health Service.
Shared care is a great option for women who have a long established relationship with their family GP and who may be managing a pre-existing condition. However shared care is not available to everyone.
Medical and social history
• ≥40 years of age at the time of booking
• pre-pregnancy BMI is ≥35 or ≤ 18.5
• cardiac disease, including hypertension
• renal disease
• diabetes and some endocrine disorders
• major psychiatric disorders
• haematological disorders, including thromboembolic disease
• history of obstetric cholestasis
• epilepsy requiring anticonvulsant drugs
• malignant disease
• severe asthma
• human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive
• Hepatitis B or C with abnormal liver function
• auto-immune disorders
• a cone biopsy or ≥2 loop excisions of the transformation zone (LETZ)
• drug and alcohol dependency
Previous obstetric history
• a stillbirth or neonatal death (unexplained or recurrent reason)
• recurrent (3 or more) miscarriage
• fetal growth restriction (birth weight <2800 g at term)
• pre-term birth (≤32 weeks)
• severe pre-eclampsia
• Rhesus isoimmunisation or other significant blood group antibodies
• placental abruption
• cervical insufficiency
• congenital abnormalities
• uterine rupture
Current pregnancy
• multiple pregnancy
• some congenital abnormalities
•low PAPP-A, >0.4 first trimester screening (increased risk of complication during pregnancy) .
Note that previous lower uterine segment caesarean section (LUSCS), in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and other assisted conception, treated thyroid disease, subclinical hypothyroidism and previous gestational diabetes will not exclude you from undertaking shared maternity care.
This is a teaching/learning strategy where a midwifery student follows a woman through her pregnancy, labour and birth, and the time after birth in a partnership approach.
Following women throughout their journey provides both the students and women the opportunity to experience continuity of care. Midwifery students are required to undertake these experiences as a formal requirement of midwifery education in Australia. If you choose to participate in this partnership, you will continue to receive your usual care from doctors and midwives during this time.
Deakin University Flyer – Continuity of Care Experience.
Federation University Flyer – Continuity of Care Experience
The Maternity Assessment unit provide appointments for women (or their GP’s) who are concerned about the health of themselves or their baby, after 20 weeks gestation.
To get in touch with the MAU call the Women’s Health Service on 5564 4363 : Monday to Friday 8.30am- 4.30pm. After hours/weekends/public holidays call: Maternity Floor, Level 2, 5564 1441
Learn more about the Maternity Assessment Unit.
Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) or Hyperemsis Gravidarum (HG – a more serious form of NVP) can be an exhausting and upsetting experience and should not be ignored by family, friends or health professionals.
At South West Healthcare we offer a hyperemesis clinic ran by our obstetric team to provide safe and timely management of your symptoms. This may include a treatment from medications and regular IV fluid therapy if indicated.
If you are experiencing NVP, please contact the Women’s Health Service or your GP who will be able to refer you to the hyperemesis clinic for treatment.
More information about NVP/HG can be found at Hyperemesis Australia.
The WHS has qualified lactation consultants that provide free feeding (both breast and bottle) support and education to women both before and after your baby is born.
It is a free service and referrals can be made by the women themselves (just ask for some help!) or by any health professionals, and you don’t need to have birthed at SWH in order to access the service.
Find out more about the Infant Feeding Support Service.
If you are diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus after your oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for diabetes at 28 weeks, you will be referred to the SWH diabetic educator for additional care and information about how to test your blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
If you have not been contacted for an appointment with both the Dietitian/SWH Diabetes Educator within 5 working days of being notified you have GDM, please contact women’s health service on 5564 4363 and ask for the midwife in-charge.
Gestational diabetes fact sheet – Baker Institute
Gestational diabetes – Diabetes Australia
If you are diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, you will be referred to a SWH dietician for additional care and information about diet and exercise during pregnancy.
If your BMI is over 35 a referral to a SWH dietician for additional care and information about diet and exercise during pregnancy can be made by the doctors or midwives.
Doctors may refer you to our anaesthetic team for a consultation during your pregnancy if you have risk factors e.g. back injuries/surgeries, bleeding disorders or BMI over 40. The anaesthetist will be involved in coordinating a plan for pain relief and potential need for anaesthetic around the time of birth and postpartum period.
Below is a list of Consultant Obstetricians that you may meet during your antenatal appointments at WHS.
There are also locum obstetricians and registrars working in the clinic regularly (doctors and registrars that come to our region to cover our staff while on leave etc). You may see any one of these doctors at your appointments for antenatal and postnatal care. For gynaecology appointments Dr Buchanan, Dr Kumarapperuma, locums and registrars are available for your care.
During various phases of the COVID pandemic, we have to follow all directives from the Health Department. This means that sometimes you will not be able to bring any support people and other children to appointments. As you can appreciate, this steps are taken to reduce any spread of COVID infection and to limit exposure times. Pandemic orders in Victoria are no longer in place, however hospitals are considered a ‘sensitive setting’ and therefore some rules will still apply, even when they no longer do in the community. For example:
We understand that constant changes can frustrating for all concerned, but we ask that you please follow the directives of the Health Department and our health service at all times. Current visiting restrictions.