Hospital’s maternity unit gets lifeline

MANAGEMENT at St John of God Hospital Bendigo have announced the retention of the maternity unit for at least twelve months. 

The move comes following a review into the hospital’s maternity and ICU services and a community campaign to save them. 

Head of maternity, Nicole Harris, said public backing to keep the services running has been phenomenal. 

“We’ve had overwhelming support from the community, everybody’s been behind us,” she said. “So many of our families have reached out to us and offered support however they can. 

“The care that we provide at SJOG is really focussed on personalised, family-oriented care. 

“We spend a lot of time with our families, really get to know them, make sure when they’re ready for home they’ve got everything in place ready to go. 

“It’s a really comprehensive care package that you get, every woman gets that.” 

Melissa Lehman was at the hospital for her three pregnancies and said the service allowed her to have a say in her birth experiences. 

“I’ve had three caesareans at SJOG,” she said. “The first two I had different complications, which were not the fault of anyone, they were just random occurrences. 

“But the aftercare I received at SJOG, I just can’t speak highly enough of how caring you guys were.” 

St John of God Hospital Bendigo executive officer Michael Hogan said partnerships with Bendigo Health will help the unit’s viability while plans for the future are made. 

“We will assist Bendigo Health with some of their activity, that will give us some more volume and we’ll also assist them with their challenges,” he said. 

“The second point is the creation of a midwifery-led model for maternity. 

“We think there are quite a number of women with private health insurance who are delivering their babies in the public system because of the out-of-pocket.” 

Mr Hogan said the new midwifery model will cost several thousand dollars less upfront than its “premium” service and is expected to be offered within several months. 

Parents will be paired with a midwife who will oversee their pregnancy, and whose babies will be delivered at the hospital. 

The main difference between this new service and the standard one, is that there may be several obstetricians within the SJOB team working with parents, rather than one constant throughout a pregnancy.  

While there was also a review of its ICU, Mr Hogan said concerns surrounding its longevity have largely subsided. 

“We’ve already had a bit of a spike in activity in our ICU since we made the announcement that we were reviewing it,” he said.