Every year more than 4,500 babies are born at RBWH. The maternity service provides care and services for women in the Brisbane area and is also accepts tertiary referal from throughout Queensland and Northern New South Wales.
While referral patients are primarily from the Central District, referrals are also accepted throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales.
RBWH's Maternity Service offers five models of care, catering for a variety of needs, including women in the high risk spectrum. These are:
The hospital also offers a range of additional care and services for women and newborns including:
Women can choose to be jointly cared for by their GP and hospital doctors and midwives in what is known as the Shared Care model. The majority of women choose this type of care and see their GP throughout the pregnancy, with hospital visits at:
If a problem is detected during any other stage of the pregnancy, the GP refers the woman to the hospital for additional consultation. If the problem is ongoing, the woman may be transferred to hospital obstetric care.
The woman will be cared for in labour by midwifery staff and give birth assisted by midwives or the medical staff. Should a caesarean section become necessary, this will be attended by one of the hospital obstetricians.
Following an uncomplicated birth, the woman and her newborn are admitted to the post natal ward for two to three days or five days after a caesarean section. Care and education, especially with breast feeding are provided and the services of a Lactation Consultant are available.
Women are encouraged to take their new baby to their GP at the end of the first week after discharge and to visit her GP again for post birth follow up at six to eight weeks. Community Child Health referrals can also be arranged through the Discharge Facilitation Unit, or via the Extended Midwifery Service (EMS).
Following discharge, home visits from the Extended Midwifery Service (EMS) can be arranged. Midwives from the hospital will visit women who reside within the prescribed boundaries of the RBWH within the first five days following birth. Women who reside outside the boundaries, and have been discharged early, will be provided with a 'follow-up 'phone call. This service is only available to women who have given birth at RBWH therefore GPs and other community providers are not able to make direct referrals to this service.
If the woman prefers to have her care attended at the hospital by midwives, she may elect to join the team midwifery program.
There are two teams, Phoenix and Pegasus, each team consists of eight midwives and two consultant obstetricians, and provides care for women across the risk spectrum. For women who are well and having a normal singleton pregnancy (ie: low risk), all care is provided by the midwives. Consultation with obstetricians occurs regularly for high risk women, (eg: women who have health problems, eg diabetes, or who have a pregnancy related problem, eg having twins or previous caesarean section) or if a problem is detected.
Team midwifery women labour and give birth assisted by a midwife they have got to know during the antenatal period. Should a caesarean section be necessary, this would be attended by a hospital obstetrician.
Team midwives also care for the woman and her newborn after birth. The postnatal course is the same as for share care patients with discharge and community follow-up arranged as appropriate. The woman is encouraged to return to her GP for postnatal follow-up at six to eight weeks.
Low Risk women who are seeking a natural, drug free birth experience in the care of midwives, might wish to be considered for Birth Centre Care. Places are limited and strict criteria apply. A ballot system applies for entry.
Women booked into Birth Centre care have all of their antenatal care attended by midwives at the hospital. The Birth Centre Midwives work in partnerships, so the woman will usually see two midwives throughout her pregnancy, one of whom will assist the woman during labour and birth. If all goes well, the woman will give birth in the Birth Centre and remain there for up to 24 hours. She will then be discharged and will return to the Birth Centre within the first week for a postnatal check and birth debrief. She will be encouraged to see her GP for postnatal follow-up.
If complications arise during pregnancy, labour or birth, the woman is transferred to obstetric care. If the woman or her baby need longer than 24 hours of post birth care, they will be transferred to the postnatal ward. If the baby is unwell, he/she might need the facilities of the Neonatal Intensive Care or Special Care Units.
Women with pre-existing health problems (eg: diabetes) or who develop problems during their pregnancy (eg: pre- eclampsia) are cared for by a team of obstetricians, midwives, and obstetric physicians.
Following GP referral, women are triaged to one of the specialised clinics (eg, Endocrine for diabetic patients) and have all their care at the hospital. In a high risk pregnancy, there is an increased risk that labour might need to be induced and/or the birth be achieved via caesarean section. The facilities of the neonatal intensive and special care nurseries are available for babies requiring extra care. In addition, the state of the art facilities of the RBWH intensive care unit are available for very sick mothers, both before and after birth.
The RBWH welcomes private patients. Many of our staff specialists take private patients and there are some visiting obstetricians. If the patient wishes to be private, GP referral to a private practitioner is required. Care will then be provided by that practitioner. Postnatal care will be provided in the postnatal ward by hospital midwives, working with the patient's obstetrician. While every effort is made to allocate a private room to private patients, this is not always possible and is not guaranteed. Single rooms in the hospital are allocated on the basis of clinical need, with very sick patients, or mothers with very ill or deceased babies taking priority.
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Maternity Outpatients: |
Appointment Enquiries: (07) 3636 7520 or (07) 3636 8247 |
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