Hi, I'm Sue Foyle Director of Nursing and Midwifery and welcome to Rockhampton
Hospital Maternity unit. If you're expecting a baby - congratulations!
Rockhampton Hospital cares for around 1,400 women giving birth each
year. We have an amazing team who are here to support you through this very
special time of your lives. Whether you have a normal pregnancy or have more
complex needs, our goal is to provide the best standards of care and support to
ensure that you and your family are safe and have a fulfilling birth experience
to take you forward on your journey through to parenthood. Hi, I'm midwife
Judy. It's important that you know that early and regular antenatal care is an
essential part of getting the best outcomes for both mum and baby. So, as
soon as you think you're pregnant, or you're planning to become pregnant,
please see your GP so they can help you get into the best health condition for
pregnancy. You have a number of options for your pregnancy care. They include:
Shared care between your GP and the hospital; Midwifery Group Practice;
private care by an obstetrician; or private midwife; there's total hospital
care for high-risk women; and the Gumma Gundoo service, providing culturally
sensitive care, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
families. Your GP will conduct a number of routine investigations at the
beginning of your pregnancy which might include blood tests and ultrasound, and
your doctor will then send a referral to the hospital where you're choosing to
birth. If you're planning to birth at Rockhampton Hospital you'll be contacted
by us with a booking visit appointment when your referral is received. At this
booking visit you'll spend about two hours with a midwife who'll take a
thorough health history, and discuss your pregnancy care plan. You'll receive a
pregnancy health record at this visit, which you should take with you every time
you attend a healthcare appointment, and remind your caregivers
to update your record each time they see you. A popular model of care is provided
by our Midwifery Group Practice, where your primary caregiver is a known midwife.
This midwife will care for you throughout your pregnancy, your birth and
postnatal period. One of the advantages of this program is that you'll become
very familiar with your midwife, and you can have most of your antenatal visits
in the community, rather than coming to the hospital. Once you're past 20 weeks
in your pregnancy, you can come directly to the maternity unit if you have any
pregnancy-related concerns or complications. We like you to ring us
first so that we can be prepared for your arrival. This phone call also allows
us to advise if you need to come very quickly, or if the matter could be dealt
with by your GP. Please remember to bring your pregnancy health record when you come.
We encourage first-time expectant mums and their support people to attend
antenatal classes which are held on Thursday evenings at the hospital. It's a
four-week program held every month. Ideally you'll be about 30 weeks
pregnant when you attend. If you've never been to the Rockhampton Hospital before,
we encourage you to ring and arrange for a tour of the maternity unit and birth
suite so that you can feel more familiar with the environment when you do come to
have your baby. When you're planning to pack your bag for hospital remember to
bring everything you need for your baby, including nappies and clothes and bunny
rugs as well as everything that you need for yourself. Always ring the birth
suite on 4920 6471 before coming to the hospital for
any reason, and bring your pregnancy health record. If you're an out-of-town
mum coming to Rockhampton, accommodation for your support people needs to be
pre-arranged. Subsidy for the costs of your travel and accommodation
is available by contacting the patient travel office at your nearest public
hospital. There are no facilities for support people to stay in the maternity
unit. There is some accommodation at the Red Cross rooms across the road from the
hospital, and you can contact them on 4927 3080 for current pricing.
Please note that meals
are not provided by the Red Cross house, and the closest shopping centre is
approximately a 20 minute walk down Canning Street. If you have a low risk
pregnancy and you're in early labour, we encourage you to stay at home for as
long as possible. This allows you to keep things normal in your home environment.
Once your labour establishes and you feel the need to come to the hospital, your
support people can be with you for an unlimited time while you're in birth suite.
Please advise them to wear comfortable clothes and shoes and to
bring some snacks and drinks. They can access the cafe from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
each day. You are encouraged to bring your own music and comfort items for
labour. Hopefully you've considered these things when you complete your birth plan
in your pregnancy health record. One of our birth suites has a water immersion
bath for labour. Please let us know when you ring if you'd like to use the bath
so that we can allocate this room to you if it's available. If you're having a
planned caesarean section, you'll be advised by the hospital day surgery unit
when and where to come for admission. You can also have your support person with
you in the operating theatre if you're having a spinal anaesthetic and you
remain awake during the procedure. Your support person can bring a camera or a
phone to take photos of your newborn baby. Your support person can also stay
with you in the recovery room while you are providing skin-to-skin contact with
your newborn. Most mums will go home on their third
day after caesarean section if mum and baby are both well. Postnatally, we aim to
get all mothers and babies home from hospital as quickly as possible,
as soon as you are both well enough. Midwives provide most of your postnatal
care. In addition, we provide the services of a lactation consultant,
physiotherapist, social worker, or Indigenous Liaison
Officer if you need their support. Visiting hours in our maternity unit are
from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a rest period between 1 and 3 p.m. where just one
support person can remain with you. Our mums tell us that they need this break
during the day to rest, and spend private time with their newborn. It's very
important that midwives have enough time with you to help you feed and care for
your baby when you're in hospital, so please talk to your visitors about
allowing enough free time for this to occur. This is particularly important on
the day you're going home, as we have a lot of information to share with you.
We also encourage you to talk with your friends and family about sending flowers
to home rather than to the hospital, so that you can have more time to enjoy them.
Rockhampton Hospital provides planned births of 32 weeks gestation or
more, so babies born more prematurely than that require transfer to a
tertiary centre such as in Brisbane. We do have a special care nursery for
premature and unwell babies, so if your baby requires admission to this unit you
may stay longer in the hospital as a boarder mum, if your baby is likely to go
home within a couple of days. If baby requires a much longer stay, it'll be
necessary for you to arrange accommodation close by if you don't live
in Rockhampton. For the safety of our newborn babies, visitors to our maternity
unit, particularly to our special care nursery, must be free of any infections
or conditions and follow strict hygiene requirements. Once you go home from
hospital, you'll receive postnatal visits. If you're in the Rockhampton region, the
child and family health nurse will offer home visits
to you to check on you and your baby. If you live outside the Rockhampton area a
postnatal referral will be arranged with your local services. It's important then
that your personal details such as your address and telephone number are always
updated if you make any changes. This allows us to provide the appropriate
follow-up care to you. If you have any questions about your pregnancy journey,
please contact us. You can also get more information about our service on the website linked below.