Preparing for childbirth
Choosing your type of care
Calvary offers women the choice of the Midwife Led Maternity Care through the Calvary Birth Centre, or a more traditional maternity service through the Calvary Birth Suite.
The Calvary Birth Centre
The Continuity of Midwifery Care Service (CMCS) at the Calvary Birth Centre is ideal for women who desire an active birth and natural pain relief, with minimal intervention and a short stay in hospital.
You will have care by a known midwife throughout the antenatal, labour and birth, and the postnatal period.
Calvary Birth Centre, Level 3, Marian building
The Calvary Maternity Care Team
The Calvary Maternity Care Team offer a more traditional model of care whereby you will be cared for by a team of midwives, doctors, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals.
The midwife led tours of our Maternity Unit have been discontinued and will resume at a date to be determined.
COVID-19 Vaccinations in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
We understand that you may have many questions around COVID-19 Vaccination during your pregnancy or if you are breastfeeding your child. Please click here to access a webinar on this topic that has been prepared by the Calvary Maternity Care Team and the Calvary Pharmacy team.
If you have any questions after the webinar, please discuss those with our Maternity team or with your GP.
Antenatal Clinic
We request that if you are attending an Antenatal Clinic Outpatient appointment that you do so alone. Your partner or support person is encouraged to join the appointment via phone, facetime, etc.
Equally importantly we ask that you do not bring other children or infants to these appointments.
If you consider you are eligible for an exemption to these requirements, please contact the Antenatal Clinic well before your scheduled appointment.
If the decision is made for you to have your baby at Calvary, our Antenatal Clinic (ANC) provides complete antenatal care or shared care with G.P.’s.
This is provided at Calvary Hospital, the Belconnen Health Centre, and at Gungahlin and West Belconnen Family Health Centres. The antenatal clinic provides midwife led antenatal care, and referrals if required to medical, physiotherapy, psychology and social work as needed. Appropriate support services are put in place by our Pregnancy and Parenting Support group (PAPS) for women and their families who are identified as having additional needs.
Antenatal Education
Calvary Hospital’s usual range of antenatal education classes have temporarily been cancelled due to the current lockdown. In their place we have recorded a webinar series. To support the webinar series, please see a range of useful links below.
Sessions 1 and 2: Late pregnancy changes; when to call Birth Suite; normal physiological birth; ways to manage labour; the importance of support people
Session 3: when things are no longer ‘normal’ (assisted birth and caesarean); medicated pain relief options; induction of labour
Session 4: what to expect postnatally; breastfeeding; normal baby behaviour in the first few weeks’;
Some of the information usually provided in face to face antenatal classes can be found here:
All-day Workshop 2020 online version
Breast Feeding 2020 online version
This workshop is an all-day class held every Saturday. Birth workshop covers the process of normal labour and birth, variations in labour and birth, medical and non-medical ways to manage labour, and newborn babies.
The Breastfeeding Education session will help you prepare for breastfeeding.
Calvary Public Hospital Bruce is a Baby Friendly accredited Hospital. This means we promote and protect breastfeeding by following the WHO/UNICEF’s 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
- Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
- Train all health care staff in the skills necessary to implement this policy.
- Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
- Place infants in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers immediately following birth for at least an hour and encourage mothers to recognise when their infants are ready to be breastfed, offering help if needed.
- Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation even if they should be separated from their infants.
- Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk unless medically indicated.
- Practice rooming in – allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
- Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
- Give no artificial teats or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants.
- Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.
Partners strongly encouraged to attend
Information on medications during pregnancy and breastfeeding:
1300 633 424 Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
Demonstration of perinatal massage
Optimal positioning Resource 1
Optimal positioning Resource 2
Optimal positioning Resource 3
Labour and Birthing fact Sheets
‘How will I know I’m in labour’ brochure
Pain relief options in labour:
The role of the support person
The role of a support person brochure
https://www.mamanatural.com/how-to-do-acupressure-when-youre-in-labor/
Maternal and Child Health nurses
6207 9977
ABA (Australian Breastfeeding Association)
24 hour helpline on 1300 686 268
Healthdirect
1800 882 436
PANDSI:
6288 1936
In addition to our classes, you may find antenatal education and useful information through the following organisations:
> Calmbirth
> Transform Parenting
> Spinning Babies
> Physiotherapy
> More Online Physiotherapy Assistance
> Lamaze
> Hypnobirthing
Australian Breastfeeding Association 1800 686 268
http://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/breastfeeding-you-and-your-baby
Physiotherapy Classes
Physiotherapy information sessions are for all pregnant women. Session covers care of the pelvic floor, abdominal muscles and backs, safe exercise and relaxation skills. Partners and support persons most welcome. Sessions will resume when COVID conditions allow.
Bookings 02 6201 6190
Mondays 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Physiotherapy Gym, Level 2 Marian building at Calvary hospital
We occasionally need to ‘condense’ classes due to public holidays, or staff changes beyond our control. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Bookings and care options
Contact the Maternity and Women’s Health Unit on 02 6201 6359 to make an appointment with a midwife and to book your parent education classes.