Birthing at Newcastle Private Maternity

John Hunter Hospital Info

All local hospitals can provide high quality medical care. For birth, your biggest decision is do you want to be in a standard hospital setting? And If so, what care model can suit you best.

Care Choices at JHH FAQ about hospital birth

John Hunter Hospital Info

John Hunter Hospital (JHH) is a hospital in the Hunter offering Birth care.

Information about JHH::

NOTE: Any delay in deciding and booking, can mean you miss out on a spot in the most desirable/hard to get programs. E.g. many women now join a waitlist VERY early to get a spot in Midwifery Group Practise Programs (these programs are available at Belmont, JHH and Maitland).

Extra Note: Birth CAN be a zero-financial-cost event. Out of pocket costs for birth in public hospitals range expectation might be: $0-1500.

Birthing at JHH happens via a few choices of care models:

One-to-One Continual Midwife Care with the JHH Midwifery Group Practise Midwife Team (women birth at the "Birth Centre" with the intention that they birth with a member of their known midwife care team. The Birth Centre are rooms right next to the standard maternity rooms. Women are supported with the intention to support natural physiological birth, without interventions - as much as possible. To birth, women report to the main Maternity Desk first and introduce themselves and are then moved to Birth Centre. After birth the ideal intention is to head home four hours after birth to relax in your known and comfortable environment for best sleep etc). (some of the Birth Centre rooms have baths to enjoy)
Standard Midwife antenatal appointments and care (women attend the main maternity desk to birth, introduce themselves and are then allocated a midwife on shift. Women visit a initial assessment room and when labour is advanced, a room amongst the standard maternity birthing rooms.)(no baths)
M3 Obstetric Team is for women with high risk pregnancies and/or obstetric conditions. (Women attend the main maternity desk for birth, introduce themselves and birth with midwife and OB care). (no baths)
Some private OBs work with JHH birthing women. Some private obstetricians also work at JHH. You would hire your Private OB yourself. Your antenatal appointments would take place at their consulting rooms, and you would birth in a standard JHH maternity birthing room or by surgery at the JHH surgical rooms. Your obstetrician would not necessarily personally attend your birth, unless you undergo a scheduled caesarean section. Women would pay private OB costs directly to their OB and Gap fees on top for their JHH care.
During your journey you may also find yourself considering Shared Care with a GP. Some women fall into this very naturally as they desire being with care of a known and trusted family GP. Others may be offered this by a GP and not realise that they can decline and move straight to Midwife Care. It is really up to the pregnant woman what care draws to her strongest. Sometimes choosing GP shared care can mean a woman waits quite a long time of pregnancy to finally meet a Midwife for the first time. (no baths)

More Details for JHH:

Breech/Multiple Births:
It is possible to have breech births, twin birth and VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) vaginal births at JHH as there are speciality trained OBs on staff. BUT, your chances of full and confident support, will depend on what OB is available at the time AND your ability to advocate for your desires/choices/rights.

The Birra-Li Midwives:
A speciality team giving support for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women/babies. This program does not have your known midwife at your birth, you will birth with a midwife on shift at the main maternity rooms. You do get extended post partum care at your home. (JHH also has Aboriginal Liaison Officers to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients).

Family Care Teams:
Mothers with special needs. Mothers with high anxiety, social isolation, very young mothers etc. Mothers can be allocated their own special needs Midwife for the pregnancy antenatal appointments and to assist the mother with communicating her needs as labour approaches. That allocated midwife, sadly, is not available to support your actual birth.

Multicultural Health Unit:
Assisting Families from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds.

Mothers and Babies Birth Stats:

General trends at JHH:

Spontaneous vaginal births (non-induced and without instruments) Decreasing

Induction of labour Increasing

Instrumental births (forceps of vacuum) Staying level

C-section births Increasing

Reference: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/hsnsw/Publications/mothers-and-babies-2021.pdf

The best way to ensure your birth is as physiological and smooth as possible is to do great quality, private birth education and/or consider hiring a Birth Doula.

The time and energy you invest in your birth will reward you for your full lifetime and your next generations too!

Find out more about my great online birth course here. Natalie

Access the JHH Maternity Virtual Tour here

Reference: hnehealth.nsw.gov.au

Possible questions on your mind

What is best to birth, public or private?

Really there is NO guarantee anywhere you birth that you will have a smooth, positive birth. Birth is hormonally driven and we need to appreciate that the woman's emotions, her sense of being loved, her sense of feeling private, honoured and safe, and respected, are what is really most influential to outcomes. Hence, it doesn't matter so much where you choose to birth, BUT what actions you take to ensure that you then SHAPE that environment to SUIT YOU. e.g. do a private birth education course, get a doula, do prenatal yoga, make sure your care team is well versed in your wants, needs and desires.

Do private hospitals provide better birth care/outcomes?

Statistics show that women who birth at private hospitals actually end up with more medical interventions. It is very very rare for a woman to achieve a natural physiological birth when she hires a surgical and high risk specialist for her birth. Ask questions and always, in any setting, seek professionals that have a reputation for natural birth support success. Ask your OB their stats?

Are there any general trends when we compare outcomes from private to public births?

Important Note: I (Natalie Meade) consider it my duty of care to mention that although it is not indicative of all experiences or of all women.. there is a general trend of concern with private hospital birth outcomes as stated in the Mothers and Babies Report 2016 publication.2016 MOTHERS and BABIES REPORT:

FINDING: “Operative and instrumental births are more common among privately than publicly insured mothers.

Are you interested in looking at the statistics for this hospital? Your individual circumstance will not necessarily reflect the stats, but the stats may help you have an understanding of what is happening to women birthing at this hospital as a general outcome.

Statistics gathered from the publicly available and easily accessible website: http://www.healthstats.nsw.gov.au

Statistics – Data Table: Newcastle Private Hospital, NSW 2008 to 2017 (latest stats to be added soon, when I have time).

Outcome of selected primipara (mums birthing for the first time),

Clinical indicator: Caesarean section
Year, Per cent
2013, 28.0
2014, 33.9
2015, 33.8
2016, 34.9
2017, 39.7

(TREND: Caesarean Section has been INCREASING)

Clinical indicator: Spontaneous vaginal birth
Year, Per cent
2013, 42.9
2014, 38.8
2015, 40.8
2016, 34.9
2017, 35.2

(TREND: Spontaneous vaginal birth has been DECREASING)

Clinical indicator: Induction of labour
Year, Per cent
2013, 39.4
2014, 41.7
2015, 46.3
2016, 50.2
2017, 50.1

(TREND: Induction of Labour has been INCREASING)

Clinical indicator: Instrumental vaginal birth
Year, Per cent
2013, 29.0
2014, 26.7
2015, 25.4
2016, 30.1
2017, 25.1

(TREND: Instrumental vaginal birth is staying around level)

Does using private health cover save us money?

Some families believe/assume that using private health care will be financially beneficial for their birth experience but this is not necessarily the case – due to the high intervention rates that CAN occur in a birth and given the private health billing system, many families believe that using their private health will save them money, but many are surprised at the high cost of their birth once all bills are settled.

Want to chat - how to get your birth desires?

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Respect and honour to the Awabakal and Worimi people as the original and wise custodians of this land. Honour to those who have birthed and breastfed their babies on this sacred land for more than 65,000 years.