Obstetrician Perth
Midwifery Care
Obstetrician Murdoch
I'm pregnant. What happens now?
It is a question many women will ask. Once you have spoken with our rooms and we have confirmed the obstetrician’s availability, you will be put through to our practice midwife, Marie Cooper. That is when you will start experiencing the benefits of integrated midwifery care, in an obstetrics practice.
Marie has a plethora of experience having graduated as a midwife in the early 90’s. She has worked at several different hospitals in the Perth metro area and first started working with Dr Holmes at Galliers Private Hospital, then at Armadale Health Service as a Midwifery manager before joining Anna’s rooms here at St John of God Murdoch Hospital.
Marie will go through all of your medical and surgical history and any medications you take or allergies that you may have. She will discuss your early pregnancy, what testing and ultrasounds you have had and what further screening options you have available to you.
Would you like to plan First Trimester Screening or Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT), commonly known as the Harmony or Generation Test? This may all be foreign to you but Marie is here to help. She will go through what each test is, what it means and provide you with the relevant information to make an informed decision.
We believe that it is really important for our team to spend time with the patient. When you are expecting a baby, new questions pop up all the time. Our midwife will happily answer any questions you may have. And don't worry if you think they may be silly; she has probably heard these questions before.
Throughout your pregnancy, if you have any concerns or questions, Marie is always here and available to help. Whether it is answering the question ‘Can I eat sashimi?’ or getting you to come into the rooms to listen to your baby’s heartbeat, or to check your blood pressure, she will have spaces in her clinic to accommodate you.
Midwifery care really makes a difference. Our patients have found that the ability to contact or come and see Marie for an appointment at short notice without any additional charge is something that gives them peace of mind during the pregnancy. Our patients say they feel comfortable asking questions that they may imagine are ‘silly’ and would not necessarily ask their Obstetrician about.
Murdoch Obstetrics care
Antenatal care with the midwife
As you look at the weeks and months ahead, you may want to know more about the timeline for your pregnancy scans, your midwife appointments and your appointments with the obstetrician for your antenatal care.
- 4-8 weeks
Contact our rooms and organise a booking with our obstetrician. Speak to our practice midwife and ensure that you clearly understand all tests and investigations, and that you take action to organise or request them. - 10-14 weeks
Your initial antenatal appointment with the obstetrician. The timing depends on any early testing that is relevant for you, and on the screening options that you may have had. We will try to have the relevant scans organised on the day of your initial appointment with Anna or Rhys. It means that you then don’t need to take as much time off work, so you can cover your scan and your appointment with one trip to the hospital. - 16-17 weeks
Antenatal appointment with midwife Marie. Here she will check your blood pressure and listen to your baby’s heartbeat. At this appointment you will have plenty of time to ask any questions you may have, to discuss your pregnancy to date, and to organise the requests for other tests or scans that may be required. - 20-21 weeks
This appointment with the obstetrician is usually following your main foetal anatomy scan. We will do our best to organise your scan with a provider at St John of God Murdoch Hospital, so you can minimise the time spent running from one appointment to another. - 24 weeks
Your regular check-up is once again with Marie. In case there are any complications with your pregnancy, you will the obstetrician. - 28 weeks
This appointment with Anna or Rhys comes right after your gestational diabetes screening. They can give you the results and discuss any issues that may arise from the test. At 28 weeks they perform a formal growth scan. This means that there is no additional cost compared to having this scan done by a third-party provider, and it means that your obstetrician has direct access to the most essential information, to update you on your baby’s growth at this stage. - 30-41 weeks
As your pregnancy progresses, your appointments will alternate between midwife appointments or obstetrician appointments. The schedule will evolve from a fortnightly pattern to a weekly pattern, assuming there are no other contributing factors requiring closer monitoring. At every appointment with Anna she will perform a growth scan, so you can rest assured that your baby is closely monitored.
Obstetrics Murdoch
Gestational diabetes - Qualified diabetes educator
Some pregnant women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Our midwife Marie is also a qualified Diabetes Educator, so you will not need to go to a third party provider if you were diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
If this were the case, you would again benefit from this very important continuity of care. It really helps if you are seeing someone you have met before, and you have this relationship of trust. Marie will be able to provide you with education, to manage your gestational diabetes. What that means is that she will help you manage your blood sugar levels, to minimise the impact of gestational diabetes on your baby and on your own health.
Obstetrics Murdoch
CTGs - Regular monitoring if required
Antenatal Cardiotocography, more commonly known as CTG, means that a monitor is applied to your belly to record your baby’s heartbeat.
This type of monitoring is regularly used in labour, and it can also be applied during the later stages of your pregnancy. Your obstetrician or your midwife will suggest CTGs if there are any complicating factors such as reduced movements or concerns about growth.
We have a CTG machine here in our rooms and Marie will be able to perform a monitoring session when required. Being able to book a CTG here at our private practice saves you having to go to a busy ward, and it minimises your waiting time.
Murdoch Obstetrics care
Our postnatal midwifery care
After you have had your baby, you will be looked after on the ward by St John of God Murdoch Hospital’s midwives. The obstetrician will also see you regularly whilst you are an inpatient, and so will Marie.
After the birth of your baby, you may still have many questions, and we believe that you deserve to see someone you already know.
And even as you are ‘discharged’ and take your baby home - especially if this is your first baby - there will be more questions. By then you will know Marie, and she will be there for you to answer questions over the phone or she may be available for you here at the rooms if you feel this would be beneficial.
As part of her role in your postnatal midwifery care, organised from our rooms here at St John of God Murdoch Hospital, our midwife will be able to direct you to the most appropriate resources to assist you.
