Types of pregnancy care

With your care, most of your care will be provided by a credentialed GP or midwife. You may be referred back to the hospital for more specialised care if required. With GP shared care, you will see a midwife later in your pregnancy as part of the ‘sharing of care’. You don’t require this appointment if you do shared care with a credentialed shared care midwife. Please ask your GP or shared care midwife if they participate in the shared care program with Barwon Health.

Pregnancy care is available with midwives at clinics at University Hospital Geelong, Newcomb and Belmont Community Health Centres, Barwon Health North and at Sydney Parade, Geelong. You may have appointments with several different midwives over the course of your pregnancy.

Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) means a midwife and a ‘buddy’ midwife will care for you throughout your pregnancy, labour birth and in the early parenting period. The homebirth service is available through MGP to those who fit the clinical criteria.

Download: Midwifery Group Practice Information Sheet

Download: Planning a homebirth with MGP

This program is suitable for women aged under 20 years. A midwife and doctor work together to provide your pregnancy and birth care as well as individual parenting sessions. A social worker is also available for support and information.

A small team of doctors, a midwife and social workers care for women with drug and alcohol issues.

If you or you baby identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, a midwife and Aboriginal health worker at Wathaurong Aboriginal Health Service can provide culturally appropriate pregnancy care, birth support and postnatal support for six weeks after the birth of your baby.

No matter which model of care you choose, specialist pregnancy care is available if you need it. For example, this may be necessary if you are having twins, or have diabetes.

Some pregnancies and babies need to be closely managed to either ensure all is healthy or to diagnose, follow or manage a condition that may impact on the health of the baby in the uterus or once born.

This specialist care is provided by the Fetal Medicine Unit (FMU) and Pre-Term Birth Prevention Clinic (PTB).

During your pregnancy, labour, birth and post-natal period at Barwon Health, there are teams of people caring for you. These teams may often include training students.

We pride ourselves on teaching the future generation of Midwifery and Medical students our high standards of care to promote excellent outcomes for women, babies and families.

Medical and midwifery students undertake these training experiences as a formal requirement of education in Australia. Caring for a woman throughout her pregnancy, birth and postnatal period, gives students the opportunity to experience important clinical training.

The student learns from you and your experience across pregnancy, labour, birth and the post-natal period. This helps the student to understand how best to provide care that is centred around you and your needs.

Regular contact with the student during your experience is often very reassuring, as the student can provide supportive care under the direct supervision of a midwife/doctor.

If you consent for student involvement, you will continue to receive your usual care from doctors and midwives during this time.

Your informed consent is vital. It will always be your choice to include our training medical and midwifery students in your care. You can change your mind at any time. Staff will always ask your permission.

Would you like to contribute to the development of a midwifery student while being offered extra support during your pregnancy?

A Continuity of Care Experience is a teaching/learning strategy where a midwifery student follows a woman through her pregnancy, labour and birth and the time after birth in a partnership approach. Midwifery students are required to undertake these experiences as a formal requirement of midwifery education in Australia. Following a woman throughout her pregnancy, birth and postnatal experience gives the student the opportunity to experience continuity of care. If you choose to participate in this partnership, you will continue to receive your usual care from doctors and midwives during this time.

Click here to register.