Appointments

First visit

At your first visit, you’ll be booked in and registered at the hospital. This visit takes 30-60 minutes and will often include an ultrasound to check on the progress of your pregnancy and confirm your due date. We will order routine blood and urine tests if you haven’t already had them. 

What to bring

•  the referral letter from your GP
•  your Medicare card
•  details of your private health insurance

Subsequent visits

Most women will have between 11 and 14 visits during their pregnancy, depending on the pregnancy's complexity or if there are other medical problems. These visits take place usually at 8, 14, 20, 24, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 39 and 40 weeks. You may require more frequent visits if complications develop during your pregnancy. 

Waiting

The nature of obstetrics means that unpredictable things happen and I may be delayed in my schedule.
I will always keep you up to date and, where possible, let you know in advance if we need to reschedule our appointment.

Birth

Unless things happen very quickly indeed, your baby will be born in hospital. You will usually stay in a private room and often your partner will be able to stay with you. I encourage you to attend antenatal education to help prepare for the birth, especially if it’s your first baby. I would also recommend you attend a tour of the hospital so you can see the rooms in the birthing suite and ward. If you have particular wishes for your birth, or a birth plan, please discuss these with me as early as possible and we can work together so you can have the birth you want.

On Call

I am on call for my patients in case of emergency outside of business hours, including weekends. Occasionally, another obstetrician will be covering for me. They will always be someone I trust to look after you the way I would, and rest assured I will hand over details of any contact I’ve previously had with you. I will always do my utmost to be there at the birth of your baby, but on rare occasions it may be one of my trusted colleagues that looks after you on the day. 

Fees

The Financial Consent document outlines my fee schedule.

Tests

There are a number of tests that are recommended as part of routine pregnancy care. I may recommend other tests depending on your individual circumstances.

The usual tests are:

blood and urine tests, performed at your first visit

an ultrasound to examine the baby in detail at 12 and 20 weeks

·      a test for diabetes at 28 weeks

·      a test for Group B Streptococcus at 36 weeks

Many women choose to have a screening test for Down Syndrome, which consists of a blood test at 10 weeks or a blood test combined with the 12 week ultrasound.

Other genetic tests may be relevant depending on your background or ethnicity, such as screening for Cystic Fibrosis. Some of these tests have an additional out-of-pocket cost.