The brand new Antenatal Clinic at North West Regional Hospital (NWRH) has welcomed its first patients, with the facility to provide support to mothers and their babies to access high-quality health care services in the North West.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government has invested $5.8 million to deliver the purpose-built Antenatal Clinic as part of the North West Integrated Maternity Service.
The new Clinic has been carefully designed to bring together a range of antenatal services from across the NWRH into one location so that a woman's outpatient journey for maternity is delivered at the same place.
The new facility brings together a range of dedicated antenatal services and features six consulting rooms, a reception and patient waiting area, staff offices, a utility room as well as delivering enhanced amenities for staff and patient amenities.
It also includes four dedicated cardiotocography (or CTG) bays for obstetricians and midwives to monitor and record an unborn baby's heartbeat, as well as monitoring the mother's uterine contractions.
The facility has been built to contemporary standards, provides direct access to the main and includes a dedicated drop-off zone and additional car parking.
Importantly, the facility supports continuity of care by providing a new home for the Midwifery Group Practice service. This service enables women to access care from the same midwife both before and after their baby is born, which supports positive patient outcomes.
The new Antenatal Clinic will operate with about 35 staff and each week will conduct over 150 routine consultations, plus pregnancy assessments as required.
The new Antenatal Clinic forms part of the Tasmanian Liberal Government's $100 million commitment for capital upgrades to the NWRH, including the first stage of a new Mental Health Precinct and upgrades to wards to deliver additional bed capacity.
The completion of this project is another example of our Government's strong record on delivering health infrastructure to meet the State's future needs, backed by the Tasmanian Liberal Government's significant commitment to invest $1.5 billion over the next 10 years to refurbish existing and build new health facilities, and upgrade digital health infrastructure.
