WIN Program
Birth and Beyond: about our new services for women and babies
Changing for the better – services for mums and babies
The new $27.7 million Women’s Health and Newborn Care Centre at
Westmead Hospital will offer new standards of comfort and care to women
and babies in a new centre conveniently located right at the “front
door” of one of Australia’s biggest and busiest public hospitals.
The new centre will consolidate the hospital’s services for mothers and babies, bringing the Birth Unit, Centre for Newborn Care, Maternity Ward, Women’s Health Ward, Women’s Health Clinics for outpatient care and Fertility Services together for the first time into one purpose-built facility.
The “front of house” location also ensures quick access to services from the patient drop-off and emergency parking areas.
But the new centre is not just about new buildings, rooms and equipment. It has been specially designed to address changing trends in healthcare for women and babies and provide facilities that meet the needs of best practice services.
More babies, less time spent in hospital
Over the next decade, we expect to continue to see an increase in the number of births at Westmead Hospital, up to about 5,000 per year by 2010. That’s nearly 100 births a week, or about 14 babies born every day.
The other major trend is clear preference from women to spend less time in hospital whenever possible.
When good follow-up care is available in the home, or locally, mothers clearly prefer early discharge to longer periods spent in hospital, away from partners, children, family and friends. Women and babies who are well, with no complications from the birth, may be discharged directly from the comfortable new Birth Unit after a short period of time. At Westmead Hospital, this is provided by the midwifery@home service.
Even for women and babies who need medical support, the average length
of stay in getting shorter. Most first-time mums who need help establishing
breastfeeding or parenting skills, or women or babies who need medical
support, will only spend about two to four days in hospital.
The trend for shorter in-patient stays in hospital also applies to gynaecological
patients - inpatient bed days in gynaecology will also continue to fall
due to more day-only admissions and the increasing use of day assessment
units.
To meet the trends for more births, but less time spent in hospital, services are being co-located into a comprehensive clinical centre. Overnight beds will be located in an integrated inpatient unit that provides for clusters of beds to manage different types of patients e.g. gynaecology and antenatal.
The other major trend in the way we deliver services, which has had a profound impact on how we design facilities, is the need to locate associated services close together, improving the patient experience, providing a more logical pathway for patient flow, and providing new opportunities for staff to share knowledge, skills and resources.
For instance, outpatient services such as antenatal clinics, fertility services and specimen collection will be located closer to the “front door” of the centre on the main entry level. The outpatient section has also been designed with a central, welcoming reception, but with a clear separation of waiting areas for different kinds of patients.
On the other hand, the birthing unit, located one level above, has been designed to have easy, same-level access to operating theatres and the new a comprehensive neonatal nursery.
Women’s Health Clinics for outpatient care
Antenatal (pre-natal) care and fertility services will be provided in the new outpatient care area, conveniently located at the main entry of the hospital in a new, purpose-built centre.
Outpatient and same-day services will include booking-in clinic, obstetric and midwifery antenatal clinics, ultrasound, genetic counselling, preparation for parenthood education and diabetic antenatal clinic. A Day Assessment Unit and Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic are also located in the outpatient area.
A specimen collection area is also included so patients can receive all their care in one central location.
The fertility service will provide a full range of assisted reproduction services.
For patient comfort and privacy, those attending fertility or pregnancy loss services will generally be seated in a different part of the waiting area to patients attending pre-natal clinics.
An accessible family/unisex toilet and baby change room are located in the clinic waiting area. The florist, newsagent, post office, coffee shop, bank and other services are nearby, on the same main entry level.
Before baby, and beyond – the new Women’s Health Ward
The new 30-bed Women’s Health Ward on level 3 includes 15 antenatal beds and another 15 for gynaecology and gynaecology cancer patients.
The unit includes mostly single-bed rooms, but there are also some two-bed rooms; all have en-suite facilities. Carpeted corridors, natural light and comfortable facilities create a quieter, more relaxed environment.
There is internal lift access to level 4 for easy of surgical access to the Operating Suite and the Birth Unit for antenatal patients.
Birth Unit
The hospital’s new birth unit has been specially designed by midwives, medical staff and planners to offer the best possible service to birthing mothers.
Being in a tertiary level hospital, the Westmead Birth Unit will provide care for all types of births, from low-risk to the most high-risk births.
Thirteen new birthing rooms, each with en-suites and some with baths (for comfort during labour), will be located on level 3, close to the main entry of the hospital for easy access.
The Birth Unit is located adjacent the Operating Suite for emergency caesarean deliveries and immediately above the Emergency Department with an internal lift linking the two departments for urgent admissions. The Unit is also co-located on level 3 with the combined Neonatal Nurseries.
The Unit is designed to provide both midwifery and obstetric-led deliveries. Each room is designed to provide a non-clinical approach to birthing, while having all necessary medical services on hand if required.
Facilities for partners have also been considered – a comfortable parents lounge is located on the ward and most birthing rooms include a fold-out chair/bed.
After the birth of their child, well mothers and babies may choose to go home directly from the birth unit. Follow-up care at home will be provided by the hospital’s midwifery@home service.
Maternity Ward
After the birth of their child, mothers or babies who need medical support, and most first-time mothers, will be transferred to a room in the 41-bed maternity ward on level 3. The new maternity ward has been designed to encourage the well-being of mothers and babies by providing new levels of comfort and privacy.
- Most inpatient rooms in the new centre are single rooms with en-suites.
- Three two-bed rooms in the maternity unit have a separate toilet and shower.
- All rooms have either an external or courtyard window for natural light.
- All rooms are designed for well babies to room-in with mothers.
- A baby bath and fridge is provided in each room.
- Services are concealed in cupboards and hallways are carpeted for a more home-like feeling.
- Comfortable lounge areas are provided for relaxation, visiting and for parenthood education.
Centre for Newborn Care
The Centre for Newborn Care will be one of the best facilities for the specialist care of newborns in the country.
The new centre will have more space, allowing new innovations in medical and nursing care. For the first time at Westmead, the Special Care Nursery and Neonatal Intensive Care will be located together.
Three levels of care will be available – Intensive Care, Special Care and Gumnut Nursery.
In Intensive Care and Special Care, older style open-plan wards, with all the cots in a central space, have been replaced with more private rooms for up to four babies at a time.
In the 19-bed Neonatal Intensive Care, babies will be nursed in separate rooms, each accommodating only two or three cots each. This provides a quieter, less noisy environment for babies and helps optimise infant development, while parents benefit from the new levels of privacy and comfort.
In these bigger, more private rooms, parents will be able to practise skin-to-skin “kangaroo” care with their baby. The benefits of kangaroo care for neonates is well documented.
A landscaped courtyard will provide parents and staff with valuable “time-out” space for relaxing, without leaving the ward.
Two parent bedroom facilities will enable parents to stay close to their baby should the need arise.
The 20-bed Special Care Nursery will have three individual rooms of only four beds each.
The eight-bed Gumnut Nursery will provide an environment where parents can learn to care for their babies in preparation for their return home.
For long-term babies, one of the new initiatives will be a “nursery in the home” program. Babies suitable for this program will benefit from an early discharge, with parents receiving support from experienced nursing staff in the family home. The aim is to reduce the stress faced by parents and carers coping with a premature baby in hospital, and promote a return to normal family life as quickly as possible.
The latest technology and more space will also allow a more ergonomic arrangement of equipment and services for staff, optimizing patient care, including new ceiling mounted “pendants” to deliver medical gases and services. These new pendants allow more flexibility in patient care and improved manoeuverability around the cot.
Staff will also benefit from new work and storage areas, and seminar rooms for ongoing education and case conferencing.
About Kangaroo Care
Many hospitals around the world are using a method of care for premature babies called 'kangaroo care'.
The baby is placed against the mother's skin underneath her clothing, so she has unrestricted access to the mother's breasts. Fathers can also be involved in kangaroo care by this skin-to-skin contact with their premature baby.
Studies have shown that babies who are “kangarooed” often have higher levels of oxygen saturation, more stable temperature, are more settled, gain weight faster and go home sooner.
For every stage of life
While maternity is a major focus, every aspect of women’s health has been considered in the planning of the new facility.
The centre will also offer fertility services and outpatient services for:
- Menopause
- Incontinence
- Sexual & reproductive health
- Uro-gynaecology
- Hysteroscopy
- Colposcopy
- Allied Health Services associated with the centre, such as social work, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and dieticians
- Specimen collection.
Innovating, not renovating
The new Women’s Health & Newborn Care Centre is part of a comprehensive redevelopment of services and facilities at Westmead Hospital called the WIN Program. The $157.9 million WIN Program has already delivered new facilities for allied health, intensive care, diagnostic imaging, microbiology and cancer care. More services and facilities for cancer patients, women and babies and patients with kidney disease will open progressively over the next 18 months.
For more information about the WIN Program, phone us on (02) 9845 7015 or email winprogram via Groupwise.
For more information about Women’s Health &
Newborn Care services, contact the relevant department
on (02) 9845 5555.
