Midwifery Birth Centre
Our Service
Western Australia's first entirely endorsed midwife-led maternity service at a public hospital was officially opened in December 2024.
Bentley Hospital's $2.6 million Midwifery Birth Centre will provide women within the East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) catchment area a new - and increasingly requested - option for childbirth.
In a first for public hospitals in Western Australia, the service is led and entirely staffed by Credentialed and Endorsed midwives.
Endorsed midwives are highly skilled health practitioners who have undertaken additional training. They can order tests and ultrasounds relating to pregnancy, birth, and the newborn period, prescribe medications, and can refer women and babies to obstetricians and paediatricians as needed.
Women using the service will be cared for by the same midwife for the duration of their pregnancy - even if the mother or baby is required to transfer to another hospital due to any unforeseen circumstances.
The centre is designed to cater for expectant women who are deemed to be low risk according to national guidelines. It incorporates two birth suites - each with their own large birthing pool, a consultation room, a family room and a midwives' hub.
Unlike traditional maternity hospitals, women wishing to use the new centre, can self-refer online here.
Women can self-refer to the Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) by filling in the following online form -RPBG Midwifery Birth Centre self referral form (external link).
Referrals can also be accepted (after pregnancy confirmation by community General Practitioner or Endorsed Midwife) via BHS.OutpatientReferrals@health.wa.gov.au
The Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) has no medical services onsite. Therefore, women receiving care at the MBC must be ‘low risk’. Pharmacological pain relief options such as epidural are not available at the MBC.
Criteria for acceptance to the service
At commencement of care, the woman must;
- Be assessed as Category ‘A’ when referencing the National Midwifery Guidelines for Consultation and Referral (ACM NMGCR).
- Display and provide evidence of understanding that there is limited access to additional services and the midwifery staff will recommend transfer to another maternity service where care at BHS is no longer suitable or safe during either the antenatal or intrapartum periods.
- Reside in the East Metropolitan Health Service catchment area.
- Be of maternal age ≥18 years and <40 years.
- Have a pre-pregnancy BMI ≥18 and ≤35.
During ongoing care
- Has an anatomy ultrasound scan between 18 and 21 weeks' gestation.
- Agrees to have a full set of booking bloods at the commencement of care.
- Able to attend the MBC for all antenatal appointments per the recommended schedule.
- Unexplained, non-attendance at ≥2 consecutive antenatal appointments will deem a woman ineligible for the MBC, as the model of care aims to establish and provide a continuity of care relationship between midwives and women.
- For those booking into MBC at a gestation of >24 weeks, there must be evidence of prior routine antenatal care.
- Clients requesting booking in the third trimester will be at the discretion of the Midwifery Manager.
- All pregnant women are recommended to have a standard 75g Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).
A woman may develop risk factors in her pregnancy, changing her risk level from an ‘A’ to “B/C”. This impacts on decisions related to place of birth and women will be referred to the appropriate local maternity hospital for review and ongoing care.
If during labour a woman requests opioids or epidural analgesia for their labour. They will need to transfer to the local maternity hospital.
Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) Midwives are encouraged to provide continuity of care across hospital sites where local policies allow.
The expectation is that a women will transfer home within 4-6 hours after the birth provided her condition remains uncomplicated and her baby is well.
Midwives will provide appropriate support to women at home through the postnatal period.
If women require a postnatal inpatient stay, they will be transferred to their local maternity hospital.
The Royal Perth Bentley Group (RPBG) Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC) Midwives support East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) values where we acknowledge that what we do makes a difference to the lives of the people in our community, and our values reflect how we expect each other to conduct ourselves every day.
Our values are:
- Kindness
- Excellence
- Respect
- Integrity
- Collaboration
- Acountability
For all job opportunities for midwives to work at the Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC), please check out the Jobs WA website.