Fiona Stanley Hospital to hold consultation sessions for Family Birthing Centre

FIONA Stanley Hospital is holding a consultation session to gather ideas from women about its Family Birthing Centre.

The session will be held on Saturday, August 4 with feedbacks and ideas welcomed about how women envisage the service.

The State Government provided $1.8 million of funding in the 2018-19 State Budget with work set to commence in the latter half of 2019.

The centre will include four birth and postnatal rooms and a family room and kitchen area and will complement the hospital’s birth suite and a neonatal intensive care unit.

Fiona Stanley Hospital Coordinator of Nursing – women’s and newborn services Peta Fisher said the centre would allow women to be in an environment more like their homes.

“There will be a bedroom just like they are at home and they have will access to alternative forms of pain relief, music and aromatherapy,” she said.

“The centre will be a fabulous addition to the hospital because we will have midwifery-led care for the women.”

Ms Fisher said the consultation session was important because the hospital needed to listen to the needs of women.

“We want to know the non-negotiables from them and make sure that this is an environment that works for them,” she said.

“Some of the areas we want to know about is the physical environment, lighting, food, furnishings and privacy and whether they want group classes or one on one sessions.

“It’s not only exciting for the women in the region, it’s also exciting for the midwives.”

Health Consumers’ Council WA executive director Pip Brennan said her organisation was pleased to work with the hospital to ensure the voices of women were heard.

“We look forward to the input, thoughts and suggestions on how we can shape the look and feel of the service from women who are likely to use it, which forms an important part of the planning process,” she said.

“Out of this process we hope to encourage more women of birthing age join the FSH Consumer Advisory Council to have ongoing input.”

Visit www.eventbrite.com.au to register.