Maternity

At MDH you’ll experience dedicated and personalised care from our experienced midwives before, during and after your baby’s birth. Our maternity care is offered in partnership with local GP Obstetricians and is for women having healthy, normal pregnancies. Our surgical teams perform both planned and emergency caesarean births when needed.

Can I Have a Baby at MDH?

To have your baby with us you must be under the care of a local GP Obstetrician (see your maternity care team below) and have a healthy, low-risk pregnancy. Your first appointment with us should be before you reach 16 weeks of pregnancy.

Low-risk pregnancy generally means:

Being pregnant with only one baby, not twins or triplets.
Your baby is growing normally and is in a good position for birthing.
You have been healthy throughout your pregnancy and haven’t had concerning medical conditions.
Sometimes things change during your pregnancy that affects your or your baby’s health and so your
care plan needs to also change.
Your labour happens between 37-42 weeks.
No new problems develop during labour.

If you don’t meet these criteria, you will be cared for a by specialist maternity unit at a larger hospital. Your GP Obstetrician and our team will support you to connect with the best care. We welcome public patients and people with private health insurance.

Booking with Us

Your first step is to visit your GP Obstetrician to confirm your pregnancy and estimated due date. If they assess your pregnancy as low-risk and you are under 16 weeks pregnant, they will send a referral to our Maternity Unit Manager requesting an appointment for you.

Once this is done please call our reception staff on 03 5775 8800 to make an appointment.

Areas of Care

Before, During, and Postnatal Care

Antenatal Care

Antenatal care is care during pregnancy.

During your pregnancy you will have a series of antenatal appointments with your GP Obstetrician and our midwives. These appointments are important even if you are healthy and your pregnancy is going well as they allow your care team to regularly monitor you and your baby’s wellbeing. They also give you the opportunity to ask questions and talk about any concerns you may have.

We offer an antenatal clinic at Alexandra District Health for our patients living in the Murrindindi Shire to reduce the need for frequent visits to Mansfield during pregnancy.

Antenatal classes, also called childbirth education classes, cover topics such as healthy pregnancies, labour and birth, feeding, mental and emotional wellbeing and community resources.

Due to the impacts of COVID-19, we have paused our antenatal classes. However, we encourage you to explore the range of informative and trustworthy videos at The Royal Women’s Hospital childbirth education videos and raisingchildren.net.au. There are many private companies that offer antenatal courses. Please discuss this with your midwife if you would like to learn more.
Labour & Birth

During your antenatal visits, you and your midwife will have created a birth plan, which will have been shared with your GP Obstetrician. Throughout your labour and birth, guided by your birth plan, they work closely together to support you and your partner or support person.

In the event that your baby needs specialist care after birth, we will coordinate a safe transfer to a hospital with specialised maternity services. This may be Northeast Health Wangaratta or Melbourne. Your team will help you connect with the best care.

Labour can take some time and partners, support people and families may find themselves with spare time. Here are some links to places to visit, eat and shop within Mansfield.
Caesarean Births

A caesarean section is a surgical operation where your baby is born through a cut in your abdomen and uterus. Caesarean births can either be planned in advance (known as elective caesarean) when there are known issues with your pregnancy, or are decided during the course of labour, known as an emergency caesarean.

They are usually performed under a spinal anaesthesia, but in some cases a general anaesthetic may be used. At MDH we perform both elective and emergency caesarean births. If you need a caesarean you will be taken to our operating theatres, and afterwards will return to the maternity ward.
Postnatal Care

Postnatal care is the care you receive after giving birth. After your baby is born you will return to your room to rest and recover. The duration of your hospital stay will depend on your and your baby’s needs and choices. You may choose to go home within a few hours of birth, similar to a birth centre experience. Or you may stay several days if you’ve had a caesarean birth or have other medical reasons.

Please ask your family and friends to read our visiting hours before visiting. While we have general maternity visiting hours, we tailor this to each patient depending on the care and rest they need. So, to avoid disappointment, please ask people to call ahead.

You and your midwife will develop a plan for when you leave hospital, called a discharge plan. Your plan will include one or more visits to your home by a midwife, guidance on baby care, feeding advice and follow-up appointments.

We will notify your local Maternal and Child Health (MCH) service of your baby’s birth. MCH staff will support you and your child’s health and wellbeing until they start school. They will contact you and make a time to visit you. At this point your baby’s care transitions from our maternity team to MCH.

We offer postnatal care to people who have given birth at other hospitals. Please call our Maternity Unit Manager on 03 5775 8800 to talk through your situation and how we can help.