What are my Nepean Hospital and Maternity Care Options?
If you’re living in or around Penrith, then you’re likely fairly close to Nepean hospital! If this is the case, you actually have a few local maternity care options! When you fall pregnant it is natural to seek out a maternity care option close to your home! The less travelling, the better, given travelling in labour can be really difficult. So, it’s awesome that we have a hospital in Penrith so close and easily accessible.
Nepean Hospital based Maternity Care
Nepean Public Hospital Maternity Care
Our closest hospital is the Nepean Hospital in Penrith which offers pregnancy, birth and immediate postnatal maternity care services. Nepean hospital has some wonderful services and midwives and they work well in combination with local doulas too! They offer water immersion for labour and birth (see benefits here!), have a birth sling, fit balls, peanut balls, a CUB, birthing stools and large birth unit rooms. Additionally, they provide care to ‘high-risk’ women and have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Another awesome thing that Nepean hospital provides is a Next Birth After Caesarean clinic! They also have a Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) option for a subset of women (but you’ve got to get in quick). However, it’s worth considering all birth options for your family! If you’d like doula support for birthing at Nepean hospital (private or public), have a look at my services page.
Benefits of Nepean Public:
– Midwifery Group Practice as an option = continuity of carer for pregnancy, labour and birth and first 2 weeks postpartum (limited places, if not on MGP then fragmented care gives no continuity, MAPS offers continuity for pregnancy and postpartum only)
– New facilities, beautiful birth rooms
– Large birthing tubs, fit balls, peanut balls and birth slings
– Free care (for those with Medicare)
– Midwifery led continuity of care (= improved outcomes)
– Lower rates of intervention compared to the private hospital across the road
– Higher capacity for more birth attendants in your birth team
Nepean Private Hospital Maternity Care
In addition to the public hospital at Nepean, there is a private hospital. This hospital is attended by various local private Obstetricians and midwives too. They are accepting of doulas and of ‘high-risk’ births. Unfortunately, while Nepean Private Hospital has a Special Care nursery (SCN), they have to transfer very unwell babies to Nepean public hospital’s NICU. If you decide you’d like Private Obstetric care I encourage you to meet with the possible options ahead of time. It is worthwhile noting that Private Obstetric care does come at a cost and that private hospitals typically have lower rates of natural vaginal births. Consequently, it is worthwhile considering which model of care you want based on your birth preferences.
Benefits of Nepean Private:
– Continuity of care with Private Obstetrician (pregnancy, birth and immediate postpartum, note that they aren’t typically present for the full labour)
– Private room postnatally (with better food than the public hospital)
One option that I don’t see spoken about a lot is that certain private Obstetricians will provide care at Nepean Public hospital. This care options means you can get the benefits of using the facilities at Nepean Public and still have continuity with your Obstetrician. Women who birth at the public hospital with a private Obstetrician are transferred back to Nepean Private for their postnatal stay.
Nepean Home based Maternity Care and Private Midwifery
The other option is home birth or birth in hospital with a private midwife!! We have some INCREDIBLE privately practising midwives in the Nepean area, These midwives are able to provide antenatal, labour, birth and postnatal care to the women they support. Unfortunately private midwives do come at a cost, so reach out to them individually to assess this.
Private Midwives provide medical care, do baby and mum checks, check the heart rate and are able to prescribe and administer medications. Additionally, they carry the necessary gear for an emergency situation at birth including Syntocinon for post-partum haemmorhage and Oxygen for baby if needed. For women who would prefer to birth within the hospital they can provide support at the hospital. However, private midwives can only provide medical care if women birth where they have admitting rights (only Westmead hospital offers this currently). If birth with a private midwife is an option I encourage you to look into it! Meet with a private midwife and see how you feel – it could change your life!
Benefits of Private midwifery care
– True continuity of care with a known midwife throughout pregnancy, labour and birth and for 6 weeks postpartum
– Improved outcomes for mothers and babies with continuity of midwifery care
– Option to choose to birth either in the hospital or at home
– Improved outcomes for mothers and babies birthing at home compared to within hospital setting
– Labour and birth in your own space with your own comforts around
– Children, partners and friends all able to attend the birth as you decide
– Birthing pool, TENS machines and other gear typically provided
– Physiological birth philosophy of primary care provider with Obstetric backup as needed
Experiences of and research in private midwifery care
If you’d like to read about my own birth experiences with home birth near Nepean, check them out here! I speak about Willow’s home birth caesarean, Hamish’s Blissful Home Birth After Caesarean and Evalie’s HBAC here! If you’re concerned about safety you can read more about the research on home birth here. But in essence, continuity of care with a midwife improves safety for mums and babies!
Nepean and Penrith Birth Doula Support
If you would like continuous support during your birth, why not consider a birth doula? Birth Doulas are an incredible asset to any birth team! They improve outcomes for mums and babies, and can provide you the support you need throughout your pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
If you’re looking for a birth doula, check out my doula services page!
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Who am I?
Hello, I’m Aimee! I support women and their families through pregnancy, birth, postpartum and breastfeeding. I am a qualified and experienced Doula and breastfeeding counsellor, providing support in the Blue Mountains and surrounds. I’d love to meet you for an obligation free catch up! Contact me here.