Safe care for mothers and babies through the pandemic

A strong collaborative approach by the South Coast Gippsland Partnership; Bass Coast Health, (BCH) Gippsland Southern Health Service (GSHS), South Gippsland Hospital (SGH) and Koo We Rup Hospital (KRHS), is continuing to support safe patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One key focus has been on the safety and quality of Maternity services for women and babies. These services, provided from Foster, Leongatha and Wonthaggi Hospitals, are ready to provide the best possible experience to families during pre natal, labour & birth and post natal periods. Wonthaggi Hospital which will provide care for all COVID positive patients, has introduced low pressure rooms to ensure that airflow is managed safely during births for COVID positive women in the Maternity ward without spreading the virus.

Each service understands that having a baby is a major life event for everyone. Having a partner or support person can be vital to the wellbeing of mothers and babies and so the health services wish to reassure expectant mothers that a partner or support person of a pregnant woman can attend the labour and birth for as long as required and they can stay after the birth for as long as required. However in the interests of everyone’s safety, a partner or support person can only subsequently visit once per day for a maximum of two hours. Only the partner or support person of a pregnant patient is permitted to visit. Prior to giving birth, there are no time limits on how long a partner or support person of a pregnant patient can stay in the patient’s room.

Visitors must stay in the patient’s room at all times and must not move around the building. Quick trips to the bathroom or to purchase food can be made. Visitors should limit the number of personal items brought into the hospital. This will reduce the number of unwanted germs into the unit as well as those taken back home. We strongly encourage pregnant women and their support people to follow the other advice of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Chief Health Officer, to wear a mask in public places, wash your hands thoroughly and often, and practise physical distancing at every opportunity.

Furthermore, we encourage community members to stay home unless you need to go out. This will reduce your chances of coming into contact with COVID-19 community transmission, which is in our community. In a combined media statement by CEOs Jan Child (BCH), Mark Johnson (GSHS) and Paul Greenhalgh (SGH) state, “We are all well prepared and have processes in place to manage births safely. We are all strongly committed to following the directives of the Chief Health Officer and we continue to keep ourselves apprised of all new guidelines and policies to keep our community safe”. The health of our community, patients, visitors and staff is our biggest priority during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We have put in place measures to keep our community safe while supporting the provision of the highest level of care.

To find out more, phone:

Bass Coast Health on 5671 3201.

Gippsland Southern Health Service on 5667 5669

South Gippsland Hospital on 5683 9777