New pregnancy clinics at Manning
8 November 2010
Manning Hospital is enhancing services for expectant parents including introducing a young parents pregnancy clinic.
The Young Parents Pregnancy Care Clinic will commence on Wednesday 10 November 2010 in the Manning Hospital Maternity Unit. The service will be officially opened on the day with an afternoon tea at 2pm with all young mothers, fathers, friends and family welcome.
The clinic will specifically cater for expectant mothers aged up to 22 years and their partners and support team.
Expectant mothers will be able to self refer to the clinic or be referred by their General Practitioner.
The new service will provide clinical care on a shared basis with General Practitioners.
It will also promote peer support and provide an opportunity for discussion about specific adolescent pregnancy concerns.
There will be links with other support services and assistance for young women getting to know the midwives prior to the birth of their baby.
Manning Antenatal Clinical Midwife Specialist Namira Williams said the clinic is modelled on offering a service in a less formal way called Centering Pregnancy where women receive their antenatal checkups whilst attending the clinic for group education.
“We recognised that many of the Manning region’s maternity patients were young mums and designed a service which was easy for them to access and provided relevant information to them,” said Ms Williams.
“Midwives at the clinic will see women who are classified as having low risk pregnancies. If a woman develops a complication that puts her in the high risk category which requires her to have extra medical care from her GP or obstetrician she can still attend the clinic for peer support and education.”
Manning’s antenatal service has also been enhanced with the addition of extra clinics in Taree and Forster.
An extra day of antenatal clinics services will see the service now available in Taree on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday while a second midwife will see women at Forster on Fridays.
Contact: Janelle Kelly
Phone: 4939 2602