Overview
Throughout your pregnancy you will meet many of the midwives and doctors from our team. Because midwives and doctors work rostered shifts, you may know the people caring for you during labour. Our midwives work closely with medical and allied health staff to ensure you receive the best care during your pregnancy.
Team maternity care aims to provide you with continuity of carer, to help you establish good relationships with the midwives you will see during pregnancy.
To have your baby at Werribee Mercy Hospital, you should ask your GP to refer you to the Werribee Mercy Hospital Antenatal Clinics.
Pregnancy Day Stay, where a woman may attend booked appointments for fetal monitoring. This is where the baby’s heart rate is monitored over a period of time during pregnancy or a bedside ultrasound is performed to assess the amount of fluid around the baby.
Maternity Assessment Unit, where the woman may attend for emergency consultations specific to her pregnancy, open 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Parenting Education – Antenatal Classes, offered to all women booked to have their baby at Werribee Mercy Hospital. A series of parenting education classes run by a midwife providing information around labour and birth as well as early parenting.
Getting here
Find us at:
Werribee Mercy Hospital
296 Princes Highway
Werribee Victoria 3030
For more information on getting here, visit Outpatient Clinics or find out more about Werribee Mercy Hospital.
Your appointment
What to do before
Before your first appointment, please:
- complete the documents attached to your appointment letter
- write down a list of any questions
- read our frequently asked questions.
Information about your outpatient clinic appointment is included in the Outpatient access page along with details on how to find us.
What to bring
Please bring:
- your Medicare card (or your passport and private healthcare fund if you do not have a Medicare card)
- any current blood or urine test results
- any ultrasound results
- your appointment letter
- completed paperwork.
Please bring your Victorian Maternity Record (VMR), otherwise known as your ‘orange book’, to subsequent appointments. You may also wish to bring a bottle of water or book to read
What to expect on the day
Please arrive 30 minutes before for your appointment. This will give you enough time to find parking and walk to the Outpatient Clinics building. The walk can take up to five minutes. Appointment lengths vary according to your needs. Please allow an hour for your whole visit.
In the Antenatal Clinic, we can have up to 10 different clinics (or rooms) running per day. You will be allocated to a specific midwife or doctor. You may notice that some women arrive after you but are seen before you. This means this woman is seeing a different clinician to you.
If you do not have a Medicare card, there is an upfront $350 fee.
More information
Team Composition
Throughout your pregnancy you may be supported by people such as:
- a midwife
- an obstetrician
- a physiotherapist
- a dietitian
- a diabetes educator
- an endocrinologist
- a social worker.
What questions should you ask
Please come to your appointment with any questions you may have about your pregnancy care.
Common questions include:
- Can I have a vaginal birth after a caesarean section?
- Can I request a female doctor?
- Can I bring my children to appointments?
- What happens if I cannot attend my appointment?
For further information about your visit, including the answers to these questions, please read the frequently asked questions.
If you require a medical certificate or carer’s certificate, please ask your midwife or doctor during your appointment.
Opportunities to be involved in research
We regularly participate in research projects. You can find more information on these projects in our waiting rooms, and how they can benefit other babies, mothers and families. Your midwife will also talk to you about participating in any projects.
Who to call if you have concerns afterwards
If you would like to speak with a midwife from Outpatient Clinics, please call 03 8754 3390 between Monday and Friday, 8.30am–5pm.
If you are concerned about your pregnancy or your baby please call 03 8754 3400. This phone number operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
For health professionals
Antenatal Clinics provide obstetric and midwifery care during a woman’s pregnancy journey.
Procedural information
Please provide the following information:
- a full referral, including model of care choice
- any relevant pregnancy and related medical information
- any tests, scans, results or patient information
- social supports and any external agencies involved in your patient’s care.
Referrals to this service are assessed against the Statewide Referral Criteria. Please utilise HealthPathways to assist in making the referral. Referrals which do not meet the Statewide Referral Criteria will be declined.
How to prepare the patient
Please prepare your patient by:
- explaining alternative models of maternity care which may be suitable
- encouraging your patient to ask any questions she may have
- suggesting she book into our Parenting Education Workshops if she is first-time mother.
The model of care is how pregnancy care is provided. We discuss this with each patient at the first appointment and decide which model is most suitable. We provide the following models of care:
- Obstetric Care, where most pregnancy appointments will be with an obstetrician
- Team Maternity Care, where most pregnancy appointments will be with a midwife
- Shared Care, where most pregnancy appointments will be with a GP. Please note, the GP must be a shared care affiliate.
What/when you should refer to us
- Please refer patients who would like to attend Werribee Mercy Hospital Outpatient Clinics for antenatal care and subsequent birth. Please refer into the service as soon as possible after a positive pregnancy test.
Our clinic is receiving eReferrals via HealthLink SmartForms. Please see our Refer a patient page for more information.
What/when you should not refer to us
Please do not refer women to this service if they have a:
- very high-risk pregnancy
- BMI of 40 or above.
Make a referral
Access Maternity Services referral forms and guidelines to make a referral for this service.
Contacts
In case of emergency, call 000
For patients
Outpatient Clinics - Antenatal
-
Phone numbers:
Outpatient Clinics - Antenatal
03 8754 3390
- Phone number: 03 8754 6710
- Website: Antenatal clinics
-
About:
Call this number for:
· Appointment questions
· Referral questions
· You want to speak to a midwife about your appointment
· You want to change your appointment
· You want to tell us you no longer need your appointment
DO NOT call this number if you are worried about your baby, have pain or are bleeding. Call Maternity services also listed on this page.
For Health Professionals
HealthPathways Melbourne
- Email address: [email protected]
- Website: HealthPathways Melbourne
-
About:
HealthPathways Melbourne provides clinicians with a single website to access clinical and referral pathways, and resources. Pathways are created by local GPs, working in partnership with specialists, nurses, allied health and other health professionals.
Mercy Health recommends clinicians to access HealthPathways Melbourne for guidance in assessing, managing and referring for patient conditions (login required).
Referrals to outpatient clinics at Mercy Health will be triaged against clinical information and investigations based on these guidelines.
Referrals that do not meet the required clinical information and investigations will not be accepted.
HealthPathways Melbourne is available for free to health professionals working in the North Western Melbourne and Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network catchments.
Email HealthPathways to request access or if you need to confirm your username and password.
Healthlink SmartForm eReferrals
- Website: au.healthlink.net/support
-
About:
HealthLink is a secure digital platform for sending referrals directly from your GP practice software (Best Practice, Genie, Medical Director and MedTech Evolution).
Practices without conformant software can register for a free HealthLink Portal licence by completing the online registration form and noting in the comments/message field that you would like to use the SmartForms, then selecting the two checkboxes – (1) Receive Electronic Correspondence (free of charge) and (3) Send Electronic Smart Forms (My Aged Care, Transport for NSW, Monash Health etc).
Once HealthLink receives your completed registration application, this will be processed and the portal details will be forwarded to you.
eReferral Support Contact Information
- For GPs in the Eastern Melbourne Primary Healthcare Network region wanting to enable eReferrals (HealthLink Smartforms), please contact [email protected]or if urgent (03) 9046 0300.
- For GPs in the North Western Melbourne Primary Healthcare Network region wanting to enable eReferrals (HealthLink Smartforms), please contact HealthLink via phone: 1800 125 036 or email [email protected]
- For issues with HealthLink SmartForms, or to have this solution enabled within your clinical software system, please contact HealthLink on 1800 125 036 or [email protected].
Statewide Referral Criteria for Specialist Clinics - Victoria
- Website: Statewide Referral Criteria
-
About:
The Department of Health and Human Services has developed statewide referral criteria to assist GPs and clinicians referring patients to specialist clinics. These referral criteria have been developed to improve access to specialist clinics in public hospitals by improving the quality and appropriateness of referrals.
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