Postnatal Services is located on level three at the Royal Hospital for Women. It comprises of the Paddington and Oxford Wards and has a combination of shared and single rooms available.

We are a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Hospital (BFHI). Our maternity service encourages, respects, and supports mothers’ informed choice of infant feeding. We adhere and practice the ‘10 steps for successful breastfeeding, which is beneficial for all mothers and babies. We practice rooming-in to help mothers become familiar with their baby’s behaviour and needs. We don’t have a designated well baby nursery. 

Staff

The postnatal ward is staffed by an array of healthcare disciplines and providers, spanning a wide spectrum of specialties and professionals. This encompasses experienced midwives and student midwives, reflecting our role as a teaching hospital.

The Paddington and Oxford Postnatal Wards have a combination of shared and single rooms available.

Single rooms are prioritised for women who have babies in the Neonatal intensive care. They are also available for women who are under the care of a private obstetrician with private health insurance. However, it must be noted that this is subject to availability.

Consult the Patient Liaison Officer at front desk for further information.

Partner Accommodation

Partners are welcome to stay if you are in a single room. There is a boarder fee for overnight accommodation attached to this which includes breakfast only. Please discuss this with the midwife caring for you. Children are unable to stay overnight.

Dietary Requirements

Please inform the staff of any dietary requirements you may have.

On booking you will be given a flyer with information as to what to bring into hospital. 

Facilities for Families

We have mini fridges in each room and a patient kitchenette for you to store food and beverages.

Please ask staff for stickers to label your food and beverages.

4:00pm - 8:00pm  

Quiet time 1:00pm-4:00pm  

Children must be supervised at all times 

Partners are welcome all day and can stay until 10:00pm

Only 2 people are allowed at the bedside at the same time

Mother – What to Expect

Postnatal check

A midwife will do a daily head to toe check and assessment of your postnatal wellbeing. They will ask you a series of questions regarding your health and if you have any concerns. They will discuss management of postnatal issues and plan your care for the day.  A physical assessment may be conducted by a midwife or doctor. Please ask your midwife if you have any questions or concerns about yourself or your baby.

Baby Wellness Check

This will be completed prior to your discharge by a midwife or paediatrician.

R.E.A.C.H

If you are worried about a recent change in your condition or that of your loved one please REACH out.

Six-week postnatal check

Your six-week postnatal check-up is either with your local GP if you were on the GP Shared Care Program, your obstetrician if you had your care privately or midwife with the Midwifery Group Practice. This is an opportunity for your health care professional to check that your body is returning to its pre-pregnant state, your lactation is established and you’re coping with life and your new baby.

Baby – What to Expect

Baby Wellness Check

This will be completed prior to your discharge by a midwife or paediatrician.

Birth registration

Once your baby enters the world the birthing midwife will give you your birth registration package. This contains information you will need to fill out to register your baby with Births Deaths and Marriages. Only one set of papers are given to you. If you lose them you will need to consult Birth, Deaths, and Marriages for a replacement copy.

You will have 4 weeks to fill it out and send in it. A Medicare and Centrelink form are also in the package. You will need to lodge this form so they can add and issue you a new card with your baby’s details.

Centrelink payments are made at discretion and are means tested. For further information contacted Centrelink to see if you are eligible for any allowances.

Personal Health Record- Blue book

After birth your midwife caring for you will give you your Personal Health record, otherwise known as the ‘blue book'. This keeps a record of your baby details, child and family health visits, milestones weight and height charts, and immunisations. It is important that you don’t lose it as it contains important information concerning your baby. You will need to have it with you when you visit your GP and Child and Family Health Centre and all health professionals.

Postnatal Follow-Up Services.

So it’s now time to go home – you have the car packed, the baby seat secured on the back seat and a newborn in your arms. You are probably asking where I go next and who I can contact if I need assistance.

Rest assured there are a variety of services that are available to follow up with.

• Child and Family Health Centres
  • The Child and Family Health Centres are available in all areas and a great resource to access. They provide free health, growth and development checks for babies and children from birth to five years. Please call the central booking number within the first week of going home to make the first appointment. They can often offer this as a home visit
  • To see where your closest centre is click this link.
• Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA)
  • The Australian Breastfeeding Association is a service offered to new breastfeeding mums who offer support with lactation and breastfeeding. It provides telephone help line for peer counselling support, groups for breastfeeding women lots of online resources who need advice during this.
  • Contact ABA on website www.breastfeeding.asn.au or by phone on 1800 686 268 (1800 mum 2 mum) – this hotline is 24/7 and a free service.
• General Practitioner/ Obstetrician/ Paediatrician
  • If there any medical issues for your newborn or yourself it is best to consult with your local GP and/or, Obstetrician or Paediatrician or immediate support can be found at Sydney Children’s Hospital Emergency.
• Sydney Children’s Hospital
  • Once your newborn is discharged from the Royal Hospital for Women and your child is unwell, it. It is advisable to take them to Sydney Children’s Hospital High St.
  • Contact SCH on (02) 9382 1111 or visit Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick.

Postnatal education is our primary focus to support your transition to parenthood. We offer a number of classes including bath, settling, fourth trimester, breastfeeding to name a few.

Check out the timetable for details.

Free to air TV education channel is available in each room.

Lactation

In a BFHI facility, breastfeeding mothers are given consistent information and support with breastfeeding by midwives. Our lactation service provides additional support and assistance for new mothers who are having difficulties with their breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding Support Unit

The Breastfeeding Support Unit (BSU) is a unique service offering outpatient and inpatient consultations to postnatal mothers. For more information, click this link. 

Our Midwifery Support Programme is a service offered to new mothers.

To be eligible for the program, you must leave within the time periods according to your method of birth.

To qualify you must live within the designated boundaries for the Royal Hospital for Women catchment area postcodes 2000- 2036 + 2060. If you live out of this area, other hospitals offer home visiting programs as well and we can get in contact with them and see if they have availability.

A safety check will be discussed on discharge to ensure it is a safe work environment for the midwife to visit. The midwife will acquire your details and give you information on the program. They will not phone you but should arrive between the hours of 9 am and 3:00 pm. Please give accurate details on parking, cross streets, pets and any safety concerns.

A midwife will come to your home and spend up to one hour a day with you and your newborn. They will individualise their visits according to your needs and support you through this period. They will visit you over a period of 4 days. Three visits will be offered. The first two will be consecutive then we will miss one day, and the final visit will be granted on the 4th day of your visits. You will still be under the care of the hospital during this time so if any complications arise or follow up is required, then the midwife caring for you can contact the hospital to arrange follow up or review of care, for you and your newborn.

A week following your discharge from the program, the midwives will contact you via phone to do a final wellness check and feedback questionnaire. If you have any questions during this phone call, the midwives will direct you to suitable follow-up.

Discharge planning

We start planning your discharge as soon as you arrive to our postnatal service. Your midwife caring for you will guide and discuss this with you. They will help you plan and prepare for your discharge home as well as assist you in your transition into parenthood.

Length of stay

Some women may stay up to 3 days (72 hours) for a vaginal delivery or 5 days (120 Hours) after a caesarean section. If other complications arise each individual will be assessed, and length of stay will be assessed accordingly.

Some women may prefer to go home earlier (6-8 hours after vaginal birth or 24 hrs after a caesarean) with the support of the midwives visiting them at home. Depending on the type of antenatal care you may be followed up by different midwifery support. If the antenatal care was with a GP or private obstetrician, then the Midwifery Support Programme (MSP) with visit at home.

Alternatively, some women may have received antenatal care and are followed up by the Midwifery Antenatal Postnatal Service (MAPS) or Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) program for their home visiting postnatal care.

If you have been followed up by Midwifery Group Practice or Midwifery Antenatal Postnatal Service, we encourage discharge as a soon as possibly unless you are experiencing other issues that forgo early discharge, so your midwifery team can follow you up with care at home.

Babies bring much joy, love and wonder, but becoming a parent also means some big life changes and new challenges for couples to navigate.

This session includes:

• Realistic expectations of parenthood.
• Planting seeds that support coping and growing as individuals and as a couple.
• Equipping participants with knowledge and skills that support parents’ and babies’ mental, emotional and relationship wellbeing and whole family bonding.
• Providing awareness for both parents to external support resources.

This session is facilitated by an experienced midwife and/or social worker and comprises 2 x 2 hour evening sessions from 6:30 tp 8:30pm.

This session is ideally attended by all couples who are expecting a baby and is offered in conjunction with our Having Your Baby program.

Please go to the "Having Your Baby & Becoming Us - Nest Building" section below to enrol in this program.
 

The Having Your Baby sessions are comprehensive labour, birth and parenting sessions that are run by a midwife and a physiotherapist and include a tour of the Maternity unit. The Becoming Us sessions complement this session by focusing on the transition into parenthood. Babies bring much joy, love and wonder, but becoming a parent also means some big life changes and new challenges for couples to navigate. This session helps give couples the tools to manage the challenges that come with parenthood.

This session is available as an evening session over seven weeks from 6:30pm to 8:30pm with a mixture of virtual and face to face sessions.

Or, as a weekend session over two Saturdays 9:30am to 3:30pm face to face and two Thursdays 6:30pm to 8:30pm via a virtual platform. 

The Having your Baby sessions include information on:

• Physiotherapy session
• Labour and birth
• Self help measures in labour
• Pain relief in labour 
• Preparations for other journeys in birth 
• Postnatal changes
• Early newborn care
• Breastfeeding
• Sleep and settling 
• Postnatal depression
• Community resources
• Tour of Maternity Unit

The Becoming Us sessions include information on:

• Realistic expectations of parenthood.
• Planting seeds that support coping and growing as individuals and as a couple.
• Equipping participants with knowledge and skills that support parents’ and babies’ mental, emotional and relationship wellbeing and whole family bonding.
• Providing awareness for both parents to external support resources.

Ideally this session should be commenced between 26-30 weeks gestation.

Please note: This combined session commences January 2023

Active birth is a session run to support and help empower women achieve a normal birth using active birth techniques. This is a 3 hour session run by an experienced midwife in the evening from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.

This session includes:

• The normal process of labour and birth
• Self help measures to cope with labour and birth
• Ways in which your birthing partner can support you
• Good positions and handy hints for various stages of labour
• Recognising the role of hormones in labour
• Techniques to stay calm and relaxed

Ideally this session should be attended from 28-34 weeks gestation.

The breastfeeding session is held to encourage and support mothers who wish to breastfeed their baby. This session can also be of great use to women who have had previous difficulties breastfeeding. This is a two and a half hour session run by a lactation consultant in the evening from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. This session is offered either as a face to face or virtually interactive session.

This session includes :

• The first breastfeed after birth
• Breast changes during the first few weeks
• The role of rooming in and baby-led feeding assisting in the establishment of breastfeeding
• How partners can support breastfeeding
• How to position you and your baby
• How to tell if your baby is getting enough milk
• How to overcome challenges

Ideally this session should be attended after 28 weeks gestation.

Just for Dads is held on a weeknight evening from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. This session is run by an experienced midwife.

This is your opportunity to ask questions and gain information in a safe environment with other expectant dads.

Topics covered include:

• What it means to be dad
• Dad's role in labour and birth
• Infant communication, bonding, caring for your baby
• Dad's role in supporting breastfeeding
• Changing relationships and roles

This one day session focuses on meeting your new baby and the first few days with your newborn running on the weekend 9:30am to 3:30pm. This session is run by an experienced midwife.

Topics covered include:

• Breastfeeding
• Early days with newborn baby
• Sleep and settling
• Newborn behaviour

This session is ideally attended by those who are doing 'Active Birth'.

Ideally this session is best attended from 28 - 36 weeks gestation.

When you first bring your newborn baby home from hospital, it is both an exciting and daunting time. Being prepared and confident in your ability to provide first aid for your child is an important skill to learn. This first aid information session is for families with newborns to children 8 years of age and is run by an experienced facilitator.

This session includes:

• CPR (hands on practice)
• Choking
• Burns
• Poisons
• Head Injury
• Common childhood illnesses including but not limited to fevers and febrile convulsions
• Breathing illnesses and allergies

This is a one-off 3hrs information session from 9:30am to 12:30pm.