Midwives Linda Wilson and Gaynor Ward with Lissette Hardwick (Butler) and her children Jaime (2) and Oliver.
Camera IconMidwives Linda Wilson and Gaynor Ward with Lissette Hardwick (Butler) and her children Jaime (2) and Oliver. Credit: Supplied/David Baylis.

Perth Pregnancy Centre celebrates first birthday by reaching 1000 clients

Lucy JarvisNorth Coast Times

A PAIR of midwives have marked the first anniversary of running their own clinic by passing the 1000 client milestone.

Linda Wilson and Gaynor Ward started the Perth Pregnancy Centre (PPC) in Clarkson in February 2017 and have had more than 1000 clients between them since opening.

Mrs Wilson said they had been best of friends for nine years and worked together in different settings before setting up the clinic in the Key Largo Professional Centre last year.

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“We have children, and grandchildren, and a wealth of experience in midwifery and parenting,” she said.

“We have undertaken further study to enable us to set up as privately practicing midwives. We are not employed by a hospital or other health service.

“We see all women who refer themselves or who are referred by a GP from conception to due date.

“If a woman is considered high risk, she will attend hospital appointments for consultant led care but can attend PPC for midwife support and still access our postnatal care services.

“For low risk women, they attend the hospital to birth and are handed back to our care and we see them at home the next day.

“We have good support from GPs in the local community and have a visiting obstetrician review women in our clinic on a regular basis.”

Mrs Wilson said they helped take the strain off the child health nurse service by offering care up to six weeks post birth.

She said 96 per cent of the women they had seen initiated breastfeeding, and 87 per cent were continuing to breastfeed after that six weeks’ care.

Mrs Wilson said they planned to expand their services, including the addition of breastfeeding classes starting this month.

“We are wanting to expand our services to the growing population and are planning to open satellite clinics in the near future in Yanchep, Ellenbrook and in Perth’s southern suburbs,” she said.

“We also offer antenatal education classes.”

Mrs Wilson started her career as a registered nurse in the UK, and moved to Australia in 2006.

She joined the Community Midwifery Program in 2011 and ventured into private practice in 2015, providing pregnancy and postnatal care and lactation consultations.

“During this time, I recognised the need for a midwifery clinic that offers bulk billed care to women in Perth’s northern suburbs,” she said.

“This model of care provides the ongoing care and support to women throughout the pregnancy and postnatal period.”

Mrs Ward has lived and worked in Perth since 2008, having trained as a midwife in the UK.

She also worked in the Community Midwifery Program and was its clinical midwifery specialist before pursuing her passion to establish the bulk-billing private practice with Mrs Wilson.

“All pregnant women should have access to choice, control and gold standard continuity of midwifery care,” she said.

“PPC is a centre where any pregnant woman can come to experience safe, evidence based midwifery care with knowledgeable, competent and confident midwives.”

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