Our skilled team of clinicians will support you as you work towards achieving the birth of your preference. Support will be delivered in a manner that recognises and enhances the emotional and spiritual nature of birth while promoting and protecting your safety and your baby's safety.

A Pindara Midwife will care for you for the duration of your labour. The maternity nurse will be in regular communication with your Obstetrician to report on your progress. They will call the Obstetrician so that they can be present for the birth of your baby. Once your baby is born it will immediately be placed onto your chest, so that it is in direct skin-to-skin contact with the mother (or father if circumstances require).

Food and drink will be provided in the birthing suite for partners, however fluids only will be provided to the woman during her labour.

Natural birth slideshow (Slideshow by Jude Parry Copyright 2012)

Natural Birth at Pindara Private from Jude Parry Photography on Vimeo.

If you have elected and booked to have a Caesarean delivery, you need to arrive at the Hospital Main Reception Desk for admission 1½ hours prior to your booked theatre time.

If you are interested in upgrading to a Deluxe Suite package, please advise the Receptionist at this time, so that they can check availability.

Leave your luggage in your car until after your operation.

From Front Reception you will be escorted to the Theatre Admission Centre and prepared for your Caesarean.

Your partner can then arrange for your luggage to be brought to your room.

The operation

Your support person may be present in the operating theatre if you have an epidural caesarean. They will be seated at the head of the operating table, at the anaesthetist's discretion. In order to maintain a high standard of hygiene, your support person must wear full operating theatre attire. A maternity nurse or registered nurse will escort you, while in theatre.

Caesarean slide show (Slideshow by Jude Parry Copyright 2012)

Caesarean Birth at Pindara Private from Jude Parry Photography on Vimeo.

Once your baby is born it will immediately be placed onto your chest, so that it is in direct skin-to-skin contact with the mother (or father if circumstances require). After the birth of your baby, you will be taken to recovery, and from there you will be transferred to the Maternity Unit.

Once your baby is born, if clinically appropriate, baby will immediately be placed onto your chest, so that it is in direct skin-to-skin contact with the mother (or father if circumstances require). Uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact for at least an hour assists in the early establishment of breast feeding and promotes bonding with your baby. This contact also helps to stabilise the baby's temperature and assists in your post-operative pain management.

Typically, after the first cry, your baby will generally lie still and be relaxed for a while. It will then become more active and with open eyes put its fist into its mouth and start reaching out for the nipple. Your baby will often gaze into your face and eyes during this stage and then begin to crawl toward the breast where their mouth will gape widely, grasp the nipple and begin to suckle.

If your baby is well, they will remain with you after the birth, in order to provide important skin-to-skin contact time.

See information on film equipment in birth suite and the operating theatre.

Mobile phones may be used in the Birthing Suite unless staff instruct otherwise. While Birthing Suites are equipped with phones for private use, we ask that you advise your relatives and friends against making phone calls to the birthing suite. We recommend you nominate a support person to update the people you wish to keep informed of your progress. In the interests of privacy and confidentiality, staff cannot give details about progress of labour or about the baby.

Mobile phones are also able to be used in patient rooms; however, their use in all other areas of the Unit is not permitted.

The Midwife will care for you for the duration of your labour. Midwife are in regular communication with your Obstetrician and will call them throughout your labour and to be present for the birth of your baby.

Paediatric care is available at Pindara 24 hours per day 365 days per year and if you have no preferred Paediatrician the specialist on call will be delighted to look after your new baby. The Paediatricians at Pindara attend all Caesareans and any other deliveries, where there are concerns.

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. Pindara has a Special Care Nursery to care for premature infants from 32 weeks gestation. This nursery has the appropriate monitoring and medical equipment necessary for management and stabilisation of unwell babies.

The Paediatrician will 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 a few 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.

Newborn babies are identified with name tags which are placed on the baby immediately following his/her birth. For safety purposes, these name tags are to remain on the baby until discharge from hospital. The baby's surname must be the same as the mother's during the hospital admission.