The Women’s Health Service works very closely with the Maternity Unit to ensure we offer the best possible care for you, your baby and your family. Pregnancy is an exciting and life-changing journey. Women’s Health Service is here to support women and their families with highly-skilled health professionals providing personalised care throughout pregnancy. 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.
The team of midwives and obstetric doctors at Women’s Health Service provide the following pregnancy services:
Antenatal Clinic for routine pregnancy care
Early Pregnancy Assessment Service (EPAS)
Shared Care
SWH provides antenatal care for women in South West Victoria. For an appointment you will need a referral letter from your General Practitioner (GP) to access services in the WHS.
Your doctor will need to fax your referral letter to the service.
Once the referral is received, the WHS will notify you that your referral has been processed and offer you the next available time for your appointment. We aim to see you between 10 – 12 weeks of your pregnancy for your first antenatal appointment.
For these pregnancy clinics, please see your GP as soon as you think you are pregnant. They will then refer you to WHS. Once WHS receive your referral they will contact you regarding your appointment and future pregnancy care.
All Information your GP has given you in regards to this appointment, results & ultrasounds if possible
Medicare card, a list of all medications that you are currently taking, plus any relevant cards (Example Health Care Card)
Level 4 – Women’s Health Service
South West Healthcare
25 Ryot Street, Warrnambool
Antenatal Care -Things to do:
1. Referral to Women’s Health Service (clink on GP referral above and Fax to WHS, see below for details) Discuss with the patient: When the baby is due. Previous obstetric and gynaecology information including previous pregnancies, miscarriages, cervical screening history. Medical history, and also family history which might include factors such as diabetes, genetic conditions, heart problems, cancer etc and patient’s emotional health and wellbeing
2. Review any medications they are currently taking and ensure they are safe to use in pregnancy. All women should commence pregnancy vitamins and, if high risk for neural tube defects or diabetes, commence ADDITIONAL 5mg of folic acid.
3. Arrange Tests: Beta HcG, Blood group & Antibodies, FBE, Hep B, Hep C, Rubella, HIV, MSU, syphilis,
4. Ultrasounds:
– Order Dating ultrasound &
– Order 13 week early anatomy scan if desired (11 weeks 3 days – 13 weeks 6 days). If ordering these, WHS will not be responsible for giving the patient the results, so please ensure they have access to results.
5. Prenatal Testing; Prenatal screening should be discussed and ordered if required, either First trimester screening which includes Nuchal Translucency test or NIPT. If ordering, please follow up results with the patient and send results to WHS.
6. Clearly state on the antenatal referral if you are requesting an EPAS appointment and the reason an early appointment is being requested
7. Clearly state if patient is wanting to be assessed for shared care
Some services at South West Healthcare are registered as MBS (Medicare Benefits Schedule) clinics. If you are referring to these clinics, please address the referral to Dr Rosy Buchanan. This is a requirement to adhere to the relevant regulations.
When a specialist or consultant physician is providing services under rights of private practice in a public hospital (including outpatient clinics), there must be a named referral and the patient has chosen to be treated as a private patient (National Health Reform Agreement, clause G19). Please advise your patient you are referring them to an MBS funded clinic.
Some clinics offer an MBS billed service. There is no out of pocket expenses to the patient. MBS billed services require a current referral to a named specialist – please provide your patient with a 12 month referral addressed to the specialist of your choice. Please note that your patient may be seen by another specialist in that clinic In order to expedite their treatment.
MBS clinics are bulk billed against the relevant item number in the MBS, meaning that there is no additional charge to the patient. However, your patient can choose to not have their Medicare Card Bulk billed. They will need to tell us on their arrival.
The National Health Reform Agreement can be found at the following link:
http://www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/content/npa/health/_archive/national-agreement.pdf
MBS Provider : Rosy Buchanan