Impressive Family Birthing Centre opens at hospital

EXPECTANT mums will have more options available to them with the opening of the $1.8 million Family Birthing Centre at Fiona Stanley Hospital.

The centre features three birthing suites, two with inbuilt birthing pools and the other with a portable pool, along with artwork and scents designed to make women feel at ease.

Health Minister Roger Cook joined hospital staff to cut the ribbon and officially open the state-of-the-art facility today.

He said the State Government was proud of the project, which was something Labor committed to at the 2017 State Election.

“This is about making sure mums in the southern suburbs have options the way they can deliver their kids,” he said.

“For those low-risk mums who want to have an alternative birthing experience they can come here to the Family Birthing Centre to have different surrounds with their midwife to deliver in the beautiful surrounds.

“We know these centres are incredibly popular, the one at King Eddies has delivered over 7000 babies and one of the things they said to us is that they’ve got bookings to the eyeballs.

“There is such demand for the Family Birthing Centre at King Eddies, we thought that we should deliver a similar service in the southern suburbs.

“This particular centre has already got 20 bookings for the next couple of months.”

Fremantle resident Jessie Carmichael is expected to be the first mum to deliver a baby at the centre.

“This is my first baby with my husband Michael so we didn’t know what to expect,” she said.

“To know we have this option to us as soon as we walked through the door, we just felt so supported.

“My midwife Gemma has been amazing but even having a plan b, which they’ve been able to tell us about, we feel really lucky and it’s opened up at the perfect time for us.”

Mr Cook said the birthing centre would provide a beginning to end process for mums, including antenatal and postnatal care.

“Not everyone wants to give birth in a fully-fledged hospital environment, they want to have the feel of a homebirth,” he said.

“Just on the other side of the door is a tertiary hospital, fully capable of helping out if things don’t go well or there are complications.