Midwifery Birth Centre

Our ServiceImage of RPBG Midwifery Unit

The Royal Perth Bentley Group (RPBG) Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) will be the first public health service in WA to deliver continuity of midwifery care with Endorsed Midwives.

These highly experienced midwives are credentialed by RPBG to provide women comprehensive care across the duration of their pregnancy, labour and birth, and postnatal period.

The Midwifery Birth Centre – due to open mid 2024 - will be located at the Bentley Hospital site. Work is underway on the area now, which has been modelled to provide a comfortable setting for healthy expectant parents with uncomplicated pregnancies to give birth.

Women can self-refer to the Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) by filling in the following online form -RPBG Midwifery Birth Centre self referral form (external link).RPBG Midwifery Birth Centre self referral form

 

Referrals can also be accepted after pregnancy confirmation by community General Practitioner or Endorsed Midwife. 

 

The Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) has no medical services onsite. Therefore, women receiving care at the MBC must be ‘low risk’. Pharmacological pain relief options such as epidural are not available at the MBC.

 

Criteria for acceptance to the service

 

At commencement of care, the woman must;

  • Be assessed as Category ‘A’ when referencing the National Midwifery Guidelines for Consultation and Referral (ACM NMGCR).
  • Display and provide evidence of understanding that there is limited access to additional services and the midwifery staff will recommend transfer to another maternity service where care at BHS is no longer suitable or safe during either the antenatal or intrapartum periods.
  • Reside in the East Metropolitan Health Service catchment area. 
  • Be of maternal age ≥18 years and <40 years.
  • Have a pre-pregnancy BMI ≥18 and ≤35.

During ongoing care

  • Has an anatomy ultrasound scan between 18 and 21 weeks' gestation.  
  • Agrees to have a full set of booking bloods at the commencement of care.
  • Able to attend the MBC for all antenatal appointments per the recommended schedule.
  • Unexplained, non-attendance at ≥2 consecutive antenatal appointments will deem a woman ineligible for the MBC, as the model of care aims to establish and provide a continuity of care relationship between midwives and women.
  • For those booking into MBC at a gestation of >24 weeks, there must be evidence of prior routine antenatal care.
  • Clients requesting booking in the third trimester will be at the discretion of the Midwifery Manager.
  • All pregnant women are recommended to have a standard 75g Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).

A woman may develop risk factors in her pregnancy, changing her risk level from an ‘A’ to “B/C”. This impacts on decisions related to place of birth and women will be referred to the appropriate local maternity hospital for review and ongoing care.

If during labour a woman requests opioids or epidural analgesia for their labour. They will need to transfer to the local maternity hospital.

Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) Midwives are encouraged to provide continuity of care across hospital sites where local policies allow. 

The expectation is that a women will transfer home within 4-6 hours after the birth provided her condition remains uncomplicated and her baby is well.

Midwives will provide appropriate support to women at home through the postnatal period.

If women require a postnatal inpatient stay, they will be transferred to their local maternity hospital.

The Royal Perth Bentley Group (RPBG) Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) Midwives support East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) values where we acknowledge that what we do makes a difference to the lives of the people in our community, and our values reflect how we expect each other to conduct ourselves every day. 


Our values are: 

  • Kindness  
  • Excellence  
  • Respect  
  • Integrity  
  • Collaboration  
  • Acountability 

For all job opportunities for midwives to work at the Royal Perth Bentley Group (RPBG) Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) please check out the Jobs WA website

 

Current job opportunities:

Registered Midwife- Endorsed: Registered Midwife - Endorsed (external website)

Clinical Midwife – Endorsed: Clinical Midwife - Endorsed (external website)

Last Updated: 10/09/2024