Pregnancy, birth and post-natal care
Stawell Regional Health offers a complete suite of services to our midwifery patients and their partners, including educational classes for new parents, ante-natal health checks, birthing support and post-natal care for both mother and baby.
Our midwives take part in the ‘Shared Care’ model of care in partnership with general practitioners. This allows patients to develop close relationships with both the doctor and midwifery team, and become familiar with the hospital’s birthing facilities. We find that almost 100 per cent of eligible expecting mums choose to participate in this fantastic program.
Midwives provide an Early Pregnancy & Assessment service to women requiring information regarding tests and investigations in the early stages of pregnancy, and prior to appointments with their local GP. This includes a free service to women diagnosed with gestational diabetes during their pregnancy. This enables them to receive education from a diabetes educator and dietitian for the remainder of their pregnancy and for relevant follow up care after birth.
We have a fully equipped and comfortable birthing suite, and our midwives are committed to supporting mothers and their partners throughout the birthing experience in any way they can. Following the birth, once you and your baby are well, we have a double bed for families to share – an important asset to enhance the family bonding experience. And, to ensure that midwifery patients receive a full service of care and maximum services during weekends, our shared maternity service with East Grampians Health Service in Ararat has been highly commended by families.
We pride ourselves on making the transition between hospital 
and home as smooth as possible for families – including local mothers who gave birth out of the region for various medical reasons – providing information packs and a follow-up visit at home. We then connect you with our wonderful local Maternal and Child Health Centre for ongoing care and advice throughout the early childhood years.
Education within our midwifery team is a continuous process and, to ensure best practice knowledge is maintained, midwives regularly undertake professional development in areas such as neonatal and obstetric emergencies, breastfeeding and changes to midwifery practice.