General News
15 March, 2024
Maternity clinic turns one
The Wimmera’s dedicated maternity oupatients clinic has celebrated its first birthday.
The Wimmera’s dedicated maternity oupatients clinic has celebrated its first birthday.
Horsham mother of three Tegan Harvey took advantage of the specialist services at the clinic during her most recent pregnancy and said she wished the clinic had been in place earlier.
“This time around has definitely been more convenient,” Mrs Harvey said.
“With our two daughters, we had to visit the Read Street clinic for some appointments and then the hospital for others but now having it all under the one roof is much less stressful and so much more convenient.
“All the doctors and midwives are here under the one roof and if you need immunisations done they will do it here for you.
“If you need an extra appointment with the doctor they are here ready to go and you could check things with them if you were having any issues.
“Plus, parking is a thousand times easier than at the hospital.”
Mrs Harvey said another great advantage of the maternity clinic was the improved lactation service introduced early last year.
“Now they have post-natal breastfeeding classes whereas before there were only antenatal classes so that’s a huge plus and super-handy as well,” she said.
“I haven’t needed that this time with Cooper but I definitely would have used it with Paige and Rylee had the new classes been available then, because it was hard to get in before that.”
Mrs Harvey said she visited the clinic regularly throughout her pregnancy with Cooper.
“I would come and see the midwives every four weeks and then every two weeks as it got closer to my due date," she said.
"I had a mix of midwives but got to know them all well, which was nice.
“They were all really, really helpful and had all my notes in the system so I felt reassured.
“I would highly recommend any expectant mum take advantage of the maternity clinic.
"They're really supportive and all the girls are great.”
Maternity clinic manager Jane Rentsch said Mrs Harvey’s views had been echoed by many new mothers.
“The inclusion of the dedicated clinic has made such a big difference to how we deliver our services and our babies,” Mrs Rentsch said.
“The midwifery team is thriving in the environment and that reverberates through to the families as well.”
Grampians Health regional director hospitals - west Carolyn Robertson said the maternity outpatients clinic was the first example of Grampians Health enhancing local services in the region and improving the way services were delivered.