What are my Hawkesbury based Hospital and Maternity Care Options?
Hawkesbury Hospital and Maternity Care Options – what exactly is available? Hawkesbury residents are fortunate to have a local hospital providing maternity care to the community. 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, what are all of our options in Hawkesbury, Richmond, Windsor and surrounds?
Hawkesbury Hospital based Maternity Care
Our closest hospital is the Hawkesbury Hospital in Windsor which offers pregnancy, birth and postnatal maternity care services. Hawkesbury hospital has an Midwifery led care model with Obstetric care for women with risk factors. The Hawkesbury midwives provide continuity of care (seeing the same midwife) throughout the antenatal period, but these same midwives are not able to be present for the labour/birth and postnatal support. During your labour and birth, a different set of midwives will typically provide your care and if required, an Obstetrician will be brought in as required.
Unfortunately, Hawkesbury Hospital doesn’t have a Midwifery Group Practice or Continuity of Care Model. However, doulas will continually support you from pregnancy through labour/birth and into your postpartum. Hawkesbury Hospital allows doulas to support families in most instances. If you’d like doula support, have a look at my services page.
Another option for continuity of care at Hawkesbury hospital is with private obstetric care, where a woman hires a private OB to provide her medical care in the public hospital. In this model you can hire a personally-paid for Obstetrician who will provide support throughout your pregnancy and will be on call for you during your labour/birth, though usually the obstetrician won’t be called into the room unless there is a concern for mother/baby or baby is about to be born.
Hawkesbury Home based Maternity Care
The other option is home birth!! We have some INCREDIBLE privately practising midwives in the Hawkesbury area, and some great ones seeking endorsement too! These midwives are able to provide antenatal, birth and postnatal care to the women they support. They 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. If home birth 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!
If you’d like to read about my own birth experiences with home birth, 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!
And that’s it! If you have any questions please get in touch, I’d love to chat pregnancy, birth and postpartum with you!
Hawkesbury Birth Doula Support
If you would like 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.