In consultation with your obstetrician, our experienced registered midwives are dedicated to assisting you with the labour of your choice wherever possible. Our midwives will provide you and your family with personalised care, advice and support, discussing with you the various choices and facilities available during delivery. We encourage your partner and/or a support person to participate, with our staff providing guidance and personalised care.
Birthing Suite
Four delivery suites feature a calming environment, while being equipped with the latest medical technology. With access to a leafy courtyard, each has an ensuite with shower, free Wi-Fi and our multifunctional birthing beds are fully adjustable to suit your delivery preferences. We also supply yoga balls and mats if preferred.
Mothers and babies usually stay a few hours in the birthing suites following the birth before being transferred to a room. Your baby will remain with you at all times, unless transfer to the special care nursery is required.
Caesarean Section
Caesarean sections are conducted in the Burnside Hospital Perioperative Suite on level 1.
Our priority is providing the best clinical care for mother and baby and that means providing an environment where this is paramount. The attendance of a support person (i.e. a partner or family member) in the operating room during a procedure is at the discretion of the Clinical Manager Perioperative Service (or delegate) and your Obstetrician and may be undertaken in accord with the following requirements:
- Support person must be 18 years or over.
- Prior agreement of the responsible clinician and the Clinical Manager Perioperative Service / delegate must be obtained and recorded in the patient’s medical record.
- Only one support person may be nominated to be present in the operating room and at all times must obey any instructions given by the Senior Scrub Nurse.
- For emergency caesarean section one support person is permitted in the operating room with the prior approval of the Obstetrician.
- For elective caesarean section in which a general anaesthetic is administered a support person is permitted in the operating room after the anaesthetic has been administered and the obstetrician and anaesthetist both indicate their approval.
- The nominated support person must receive prior formal instruction regarding their rights and responsibilities prior to the event and must acknowledge their agreement in writing.
Still photography is welcome but due to safety considerations, video recording devices of any type is not permitted in the Perioperative Suite. At all times support persons must follow the instructions of the hospital staff member, obstetrician or surgeon with regard to the use of any type of photographic device.
Wireless Monitoring
See the below video for more information on our wireless monitoring device that allows patients in the early stages of labour to walk freely through the ward, hospital grounds or the heritage-listed Attunga Gardens:
For that extra measure of safety, a fully equipped operating suite is located on level one and available 24 hours, seven days a week, as well as an accredited Special Care Nursery is equipped to meet the needs of babies requiring specialised care such as oxygen therapy or intravenous therapy.
Pain relief
We offer a variety of effective ways to relieve pain in labour. These can include simple breathing techniques, analgesia or epidural or as sophisticated as patient controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA), a type of regional block like the epidural but with the major advantage of allowing you, the patient, to control your own dosing of medication.
These pain relief options should be discussed with your midwife, obstetrician and anaesthetist.
Filming and videography
We ask that you and/or your support person follow the attending midwife’s instructions relating to the use of cameras at all times.
Still photography is welcome but due to safety considerations, video recording devices of any type is not permitted in the Labour or Perioperative Suite. At all times support persons must follow the instructions of the hospital staff member, Obstetrician or surgeon with regard to the use of any type of photographic device.
Physiotherapy
Your body undergoes considerable changes during pregnancy and childbirth. Your pelvic floor muscles, abdominal muscles, posture and body awareness can all be affected pre and postnatally.
Burnside Hospital maternity service provides an ‘in room’ physio service. Referrals can be initiated either by your treating obstetrician or the Clinical Manager of the Maternity Service. A qualified physiotherapist can provide a postnatal review and check your progress and physical recovery following delivery. The physio is also able to provide advice and exercises that will help in your recovery.
