Mother and Baby
Welcome to the Maternity Services provided by the Women's and Children's Health Institute of The Townsville Hospital. This web site contains information about services, facilities and programmes available to help you during you pregnancy, birth and parenting.
Also included is some general information about your health care, tests and procedures.
Please feel free to ask your midwife or doctor if you have any questions or concerns not covered.
We want to assist in making your pregnancy and birth as special as possible. We wish you well as you begin the journey to parenthood.
Now that you are pregnant you have some choices to make regarding your antenatal care. We provide 6 types of care, depending on whether your pregnancy is considered normal or high risk. Women, who are considered to be normal risk are women who have no current medical problems and if they have had previous births, they had no complications. All pregnant women are allocated to a team of doctors and midwives under the direction of a specialist obstetrician. Antenatal care may then be provided according to the following options as suitable for each individual case.
At your Antenatal Booking-in visit, you will be seen by both a Midwife and a Doctor. A Midwife will discuss your history with you and advise you about options for antenatal care available at this hospital. The Midwife will also give you information about the Maternity Ward, Birth Suite, antenatal classes and any other topics you would like to discuss. You will then see a medical officer for a physical assessment. Care options available include:
1. Shared Care
This option includes attending most of your antenatal care with your own GP or Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Service Mums and Babies Clinic (Hospital liaison midwife available Thursday morning at TAIHS to discuss any enquiries or concerns) and some hospital clinic visits at booking-in, 36 and 41 weeks and other times as necessary.
2. Medical Care
You may come to the hospital clinics for all your visits and be seen by the hospital doctors. You will be allocated to a Consultant Obstetric Clinic and that team will provide your antenatal care. You may not be cared for by the same team during your actual labour, but there is a medical team on duty in Birth Suite every day. The teams consists of a Specialist Obstetrician, Registrar and Resident.
3. Specialist Antenatal Clinics
These clinics are for women who have problems due to medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, high blood pressure, heart disease or obstetric problems. They often involve other members of the health care team such as endocrinologists, special educators or dieticians.
4. Midwives Clinic
Women may also be seen at the Midwives Clinic if they have a normal pregnancy, which will be categorised by the Medical Staff. Women attending this clinic will be seen in the afternoons, by the midwives, who are dedicated to the antenatal clinics.
5. Wombatt Team Midwives
The Wombatt team is a group of ten midwives who provide care for women who are healthy and have no complications in pregnancy. The midwives work in Clinics, Birth Suite, Maternity, Parent Education classes and the Home Visiting service. You will meet the midwives during your antenatal visits. You will have met the midwife who facilitate the birth of your baby prior to going into labour. A member of the same team will look after you in the Maternity Ward and visit you at your home. Care is given according to established guidelines and if your condition changes you will be referred to the appropriate medical staff.
6. Community Midwife Clinics
This Midwife Clinic is a service for healthy pregnant women in the Kelso, Rasmussen and Condon areas. These antenatal clinics are held behind the Community Centre at 1143 Upper Ross River Road, Rasmussen.
Other members of the team
All of these antenatal clinics are supported by, and have access to, an allied health worker who is part of the team involved in Women's and Children's Health. These include social workers, dietician, physiotherapists and specialist educators. If you would like to discuss specific issues with any of these people your midwife or doctor can arrange a referral.
These are a series of 5 consecutive 2-hour sessions conducted by a physiotherapist and hospital midwife. These can be started at 26 weeks of pregnancy onwards.
The classes cover such areas as:
• Increasing awareness of basic anatomy.
• Muscle functions.
• Postural changes of your body throughout pregnancy.
• Relaxation techniques including massage and baby massage.
• Identifying problem areas early.
• The stages of labour and what is happening to your body during each stage and how your support people can help.
• Self-help strategies and drugs used for pain relief.
• What happens in hospital, when to come and what to bring.
• Breastfeeding your baby and information to assist you to do so.
• Parenting issues in the first few weeks and community supports available to you.
Parents and support people welcome.
| When: |
Monday - Wednesday 7.00pm - 9.00pm |
| Wombatt's Thursday 6.30pm - 8.30pm | |
| Venue: | Maternity Ward day room, Ground Floor, The Townsville Hospital |
| Bookings | Taken at Primary Reception Area, Women's and Children's Clinic or Phone 4796 1450 |
Please book early as session numbers are limited
The preparation for Parenting Group is for young people under 23 years of age who are pregnant. This is a twelve-week antenatal program with one week specific to fathers to be. Your midwife can refer you to this group or you can self refer.
Topics include:
• Staying healthy during pregnancy
• Becoming a parent
• Breast feeding
• Children education sessions
• Sleep and settling your baby
• Dealing with lifestyle changes and supports available to you.
This group is facilitated by Child Youth and Family Health and the Townsville Hospital.
Telephone (07) 4799 9000
When: last Wednesday of each month.
Venue: in the Maternity Ward Day Room.
Time: 9.30am to 11.30am.
Bookings: in at Women and Children's reception area of Phone +61 7 4796 1450.
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© The State of Queensland (Queensland Health) 2008.
