Antenatal Care

Women who wish to have their baby at the Armadale Health Service, must live in the AHS catchment area.

Referrals

You must be referred by your general practitioner (GP) to access antenatal care. This should ideally be done before by 14 weeks to allow for 18 week appointment if required.

GPs must send the completed referral form for antenatal care and delivery to the Armadale Health Service Referral Office by emailing akg.referrals@health.wa.gov.au.

GPs are to organise a patient's blood tests, first trimester screening, dating and anatomy scans. The results of these tests must be sent with the referral or request a copy of the results to be sent to the Armadale Health Service Antenatal Clinic.

For high-risk, complex pregnancies or urgent referrals/reviews (to be seen within seven days), please liaise with the Antenatal Clinic Coordinator direct by calling the clinic on (08) 9391 2901. If a first trimester screen result is deemed high risk, please refer immediately for tertiary scan at King Edward Memorial Hospital.

Download the referral form in rich text format (RTF 190KB) or PDF (30KB).

Antenatal care options

The following antenatal care options are available:

  • antenatal care by midwives and GP obstetricians in the Antenatal Clinic
  • antenatal care provided by nominated accredited GP Obstetrician, as a public or private patient
  • antenatal care by Midwifery group practice

Pregnant women identified with high-risk factors will be seen by a consultant obstetrician.

All women will have their first appointment at Armadale Health Service with a midwife at approximately 18 weeks of your pregnancy followed by an appointment with the hospital’s GP Obstetrician between 20 to 22 weeks. If you are choosing the shared care option, the GP Obstetrician appointment will be at 28 weeks.

Boodjari Yorgas Midwifery Group Practice

Our Boodjari Yorgas Midwifery Group Practice is an award-winning service run by midwives that seeks to empower Aboriginal women through their pregnancy , birth and postnatal period to support new mothers in a culturally appropriate manner.

This has resulted in an overall improvement in birth outcomes, fewer unbooked women birthing at the hospital and reduced birth risks.

The service won a National Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in 2012.

Armadale also has four other Midwifery Group Practice teams, that cater for all risk women.

STAR Antenatal clinic

Our Supporting Those at Risk (STAR) clinic offers support to young mothers and women with complex social and health issues. This includes providing continuity of carer by a midwife and advocating on your behalf, with access to perinatal mental health and social work input as required.

Next birth after caesarean clinic

Our maternity unit supports women to birth naturally where possible. Our Next Birth after Caesarean Clinic (NBAC) provides information and support to pregnant women regarding their birth choices following a previous caesarean section.

Our specialised team of midwives and obstetricians will discuss with you the chance of a successful vaginal birth, your personal wishes and future fertility plans to allow you to make an informed decision. More information about having a vaginal birth after caeasaren is available on the Women and Newborn Health Service website (external link).

Support Women with Additional Nutritional Needs Antenatal Clinic

Our Support Women with Additional Nutritional Needs (SWANN) clinic is specifically designed to ‘support women with additional nutritional needs’. In such cases as gestational diabetes, BMI over 35 or below 20 research has shown that women that fit into this category benefit from specific education and support designed around individual needs. Our team is trained and dedicated to supporting women through these issues during pregnancy, providing access to diabetes educators, obstetrician’s, midwives and dieticians and a schedule that reflects the needs of each woman.

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Antenatal Clinic

Culturally and linguistically diverse’ (CALD)clients benefit from the extra time allocated during these appointments to allow for language interpretation. We have access to a large range of reading matter in many languages to ensure women are receiving the education suggested.

Early Pregnancy Assessment Service Clinic

The Early Pregnancy Assessment Service (EPAS) at Armadale Health Service provides specialised, confidential and caring support to those families experiencing issues during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Run by a specialist obstetrician and midwife, the clinic runs two half days per week and provides assessment, treatment and emotional support services.

Providing the patient does not require immediate treatment, please send EPAS Clinic referrals via the Central Referral Service (CRS) by fax 1300 365 056.

Unwell patients (for example those who are haemodynamically unstable or experiencing severe pain and/or heavy bleeding) should be referred directly to Armadale Health Service Emergency Department. Once stable these patients will be internally referred to the EPAS Clinic for ongoing assessment, treatment and support.

Antenatal Assessment Unit

Our Antenatal Assessment Unit, located near labour ward, provides ongoing monitoring for women identified with high-risk pregnancies. These include women who develop complications after 20 weeks of gestation such as (but not limited to):

  • threatened preterm labour
  • preterm rupture of membranes
  • reduced fetal movements
  • bleeding in pregnancy (antepartum haemorrhage)
  • serial fetal monitoring for pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes.

The Antenatal Assessment Unit also assesses women who may be in early labour.

Antenatal education classes

We provide antenatal parent education classes for all women and their support persons awaiting the arrival of a new baby.

These classes will enable you to make an informed choice in relation to pregnancy, birth and early days of parenting to help you achieve a more positive experience as you enter parenthood.

Topics covered:

  • healthy lifestyle choices
  • physical and psychological changes in pregnancy
  • normal labour
  • active birth
  • pain relief
  • unexpected outcome and obstetric intervention
  • the role of the support person
  • care of the newborn
  • infant feeding
  • parenting styles
  • ward tour.

At Armadale Hospital, the midwives provide the interactive online classes via Avaya Workplace.

Avaya workplace is a safe and secure portal that allows the midwives to deliver the content in an informal and approachable manner that gives you the opportunity to ask questions from the safety of your own home, on holidays or on FIFO.

Visit the Telehealth website to join these classes is listed below and the Class code will be provided to for your allocated classes.

When are classes available?

Classes run on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6.30pm to 8.30pm for four consecutive weeks. Those unable to attend the classes on weekdays can attend two weekends each month where all four sessions are covered.

These weekend sessions usually start at 8.30am or 1.30pm. It is recommended to commence classes between 28 & 32 weeks pregnant for the four weekly night classes, and by 34 weeks for full weekend classes.

How are classes booked?

Women who attend the Antenatal Clinic for their booking visit will be offered and booked into these antenatal education classes.

If this does not occur, please contact the Antenatal Clinic on (08) 9391 2901 or via email at ArmadaleANC.AHS@health.wa.gov.au for bookings.

Pregnancy support

Healthdirect Australia has launched the expanded Pregnancy, Birth and Baby service (external site) to support parents on their journey from pregnancy through to preschool.

The Pregnancy, Birth and Baby website offers a range of information on topics such as pregnancy planning, having a healthy pregnancy, newborn essentials, toddler tips and preschool preparation. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby can also refer to local face-to-face health services relevant to your needs, such as early child health or speech therapy.

Last Updated: 04/08/2022