Find Midwifery Care

Midwifery Care in your State

Midwifery to me is about supporting women transition through an important life stage. It demands that you feel passionate about protecting and supporting her to navigate the system and create lasting memories, about helping her feel empowered and strong. (Angela, Midwife)

South Australia

A number of midwifery services are available to you in South Australia. Click on the links below to find out more about each:

Midwifery Group Practice (MGP)
Aboriginal Family Birthing Program
Private Midwifery Care
Public Hospital Services
Private Hospital Services

Midwifery Group Practice

Midwifery Group Practice is a midwifery-led maternity services model of care. It consists of a group of midwives who promote normal birth when working in partnership with women to provide evidenced-based care, identifying the need for referral as required. Women are assigned a primary and a backup midwife within the team who work on call to facilitate continuity of care. MGP has demonstrated to be safe, less interventional with women reporting increased satisfaction and requesting more access to these midwifery continuity of care models. Some of the MGP services offer homebirth as an option.

You can find a MGP at one of the hospitals below – both in the metropolitan area and country:

Metropolitan

Country

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Aboriginal Family Birthing Program

The Metropolitan Aboriginal Family Birthing Program is a free service for Aboriginal women in metropolitan Adelaide. As part of the Program, you will be cared for by a group of Midwives and an Aboriginal and Maternal Infant Care (AMIC) Worker throughout your pregnancy, birth and after your baby is born.

Hospitals offering this program are listed below:

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Private Midwifery Care

Privately practising midwives offer continuity of care, which means you get to have the same midwife caring for you from early in your pregnancy, through birth and into the first few weeks with your newest family member. Private midwifery care can start from the time a woman is aware of the pregnancy and appointments continue throughout the pregnancy, mostly with a Medicare rebate available on midwifery fees, and often in the woman’s home. The midwives may order tests and ultrasounds relating to pregnancy, birth and the newborn period and follow up on results, prescribe medications and refer women and babies to obstetricians and paediatricians as needed. Some midwives only provide antenatal and postnatal care and some will attend births for their private clients, either in a hospital in the same way that women can be admitted under the care of a private obstetrician, or as a home birth, then follow-up post-birth appointments will be available for the first six weeks after birth, also as home visits.

Each midwife provides slightly different services, so it's always best to ask your midwife about the services they offer.

All privately practising midwives are required by their regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, to work within specified guidelines and will seek input from a medical practitioner or local health network if complications arise at any time for advice on management of pregnancy or birth.

There are a variety of options for private midwifery care across the metropolitan and country regions:

Metropolitan / Hills