Maternity:

Your stay in Hospital – what to expect?

Midwifery, nursing & obstetric care

During the first days of your stay, you will receive assistance from nursing staff to help you care for your new born.

The nursing staff will involve you in the clinical handover of your care with the next nurse allocated to care for you. If you wish to sleep during this handover time, please advise the nurse caring for you, so that you are not disturbed.

Towards the end of your stay, you will gain the confidence and skills to independently manage the nursing requirements of your baby and therefore you will rely less on this assistance from nursing staff.

Your Doctor’s rounds will commence from 6.30 - 7.00am

Registration of birth form

Parents must register the birth of their baby within 60 days of birth. The maternity staff will give you the forms for Registration of Birth and the Family Allowance Claim after the birth of your baby.

Visiting hours

New mothers experience a variety of physical and emotional changes after their delivery. Apart from the excitement and joy, you can also experience sleep deprivation and hormonal changes which can lead to feelings of extreme tiredness and teary episodes. This is normal.

To ensure you get adequate rest, we encourage you to restrict your visitor numbers and their length of stay. Visiting hours are 11.00am – 1.00pm and 4.00pm – 8.00pm daily.

There is a strict rest period from 2.30pm - 4.00pm. During this time we do not admit visitors or transfer phone calls to your room (except by prior arrangement with you).

Babies usually feed around 6 – 8 times every 24 hours and often more frequently in the first few days, so we strongly suggest that you take advantage of the rest period and advise your family and friends to visit during visiting hours.

Rooming in

Pindara encourages a new mother to keep her baby in her room. This promotes bonding between the mother (and father) and baby; helps new mothers establish lactation; and gives new parents the opportunity to learn practical parenting skills thus increasing their confidence. Rooming in also decreases risk of cross infection.

Our maternity nurses will support you as you develop skills and learn to care for your newborn.

Breastfeeding

We recommend that your baby has unlimited access to breastfeeds, according to their individual needs, right from birth. This will help establish a good milk supply and is why 24-hour rooming-in (staying close to your baby) is so important.

Breastfeeding concerns

We understand that breastfeeding is not always easy. If you have concerns or problems a Lactation Consultant is available to help you. If you feel that this would be of benefit to you, please contact the Maternity Unit to arrange an appointment.

Artificial feeding

If your informed choice is to artificially feed your baby, we ask that you supply your own formula and bring this into hospital with you. The maternity staff will then provide you with individual instruction on how to feed your baby while you are in hospital.

Partners

Partners are welcome to stay overnight, however our rooms are not furnished with additional beds. This means your partner might be required to sleep in a recliner chair. Regal Suite packages however, do include a sofa-bed for partners.

The presence of partners overnight is reliant on their acceptance of the “Partner Code of Conduct”. Any breach of this Code may result in the immediate withdrawal of their overnight stay privileges.

It is important your partner reads the “Partner Code of Conduct” and is aware of the number of times people will need to enter your room each day e.g. serving and clearing of meals, servicing of room, nursing procedures, doctors’ rounds.  It is also important your partner understands the physical and emotional changes you will experience that can result in sleep deprivation and teary episodes. Your partner must also accept that our focus of care will always remain on you and your baby.

Partners are requested not to bring a mattress as they pose a safety risk for staff tripping over them.

Paediatric care

Paediatric care is available at Pindara 24 hours per day 365 days per year. A Paediatrician will examine your baby in the first 24 hours of its life to ensure there are no apparent congenital abnormalities or other major concerns.

The Paediatrician will also visit you and your baby, on a regular basis, during your hospital stay. They will look for concerns with feeding; jaundice; and particularly to check that no heart murmurs develop.

The Paediatrician will also organise to see your baby several weeks later, to check that all the normal developmental milestones are being achieved and that your baby is developing a good routine.

Subsequent to this visit, the baby will then be referred back to your General Practitioner for ongoing care. Your baby would then only need to see a Paediatrician if your General Practitioner identified there were specific concerns.

You will receive an invoice from the Paediatrician for this medical care which may include a gap payment. Unless there are specific concerns, a baby does not generally need to be admitted to the Special Care Nursery. This may mean medical care will be as an outpatient and you will be able to utilise the Medicare safety net.

Meet our Paediatricians

Physiotherapy care

A physiotherapist will visit you during your stay on the maternity ward. The purpose of this visit is to review your postnatal recovery including pelvic floor/ abdominal muscle function, check for abdominal muscle separation, review back care guidelines as well as your return to exercise plan. Where necessary, physiotherapy treatment for significant low back pain, neck pain and ultrasound for breast engorgement/pre-mastitis is also available.

The physiotherapist will see you 1 -2 days prior to discharge. If you intend to leave earlier than usual and would like to be seen by the physiotherapist, it is strongly recommended you arrange this with your nurse or you may be missed on the days the physiotherapist is on the ward.