Obstetrician Mandurah
Our unique antenatal care model
At Nest Medical, you are in good hands for your antenatal care. As your Mandurah-based women’s and children’s health practice, we offer a unique care model.
You and your baby deserve the highest level of antenatal care with the best that modern medicine has to offer, and a team of people who look at the individual details of your unique pregnancy.
We have a team of GP obstetricians, specialist obstetricians and midwives, as well as allied health professionals. At any time, you deserve to be seen as a person, not a ‘case’ or a number.
The concept of a GP obstetrician (or GPO) is well known in our more rural areas here in Australia. It means that your qualified and experienced GP has also undertaken advanced training in obstetrics, achieving a diploma of obstetrics and gynaecology (DRANZCOG). Specialist obstetricians – as opposed to GP obstetricians – do not have training in general practice but have received more extensive training in complex obstetrics and gynaecology, and hence manage more complex obstetrics and gynaecological pathology (FRANZCOG).
The Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) organises this training and when qualified, a GP obstetrician can safely undertake normal and complex deliveries (including instrumental vaginal deliveries and caesarean sections), and basic gynaecological procedures.
“The benefit for you as a patient is that you get the best of two worlds. The GP obstetrician, traditionally, is a highly trained professional who often has to rely on their expertise and autonomous thinking, as many of us work or have worked in remote areas.”
Dr Peter Kell
GP Obstetrician Mandurah
Our experience allows us to provide antenatal care adapted to your personal situation so you never feel like a number.
Personalised care at an affordable cost
At Nest Medical care starts with offering choice. The first choice you and your support person need to make is:
- do you want to be looked after predominantly by an endorsed midwife?
- or do you want your care provided by an obstetrician?
Depending on your choice, you will either attend the endorsed midwife-led clinic or the obstetrician-led clinic.
The endorsed midwife-led clinic is for low-risk pregnant women. The midwife makes all the decisions relating to pregnancy care unless something complex arises that needs input from the obstetrician. Women in this clinic can choose which midwife they want to have as their primary care provider, they are admitted to Peel Health Campus as a public patient and their labour and birth are overseen by the on-call obstetrician. Women in this clinic who are Health Care Card holders have their appointments bulk billed, other women have a small out-of-pocket expense each time.
The obstetrician-led clinic is for those women whose pregnancy is more complicated or for those women who prefer to have obstetrician-centred care. In this clinic, women still see a midwife for all of their appointments but they choose their obstetrician and see them regularly. They are admitted to Peel Health Campus as either a public or a private patient depending on their insurance status and women with a Health Care Card are charged a concession rate for their antenatal appointments. Women who are admitted to Peel Health Campus as private patients have the added advantage of having their chosen obstetrician involved with their care during labour and birth.
Women attending Nest Medical for their antenatal care also have the option of having some of their antenatal appointments at home. These appointments are done by an endorsed midwife who visits you at home to provide you with routine antenatal care. The out-of-pocket cost for home visits is slightly more than if you come into Nest Medical but for some women, the convenience of care at home makes this worthwhile.
In summary, at Nest Medical, care starts with offering choices. Your choice of clinics starts with a decision of who you want your main caregiver to be an Endorsed Midwife or a GP Obstetrician. Whether you have private health Insurance or a Health care card will determine what you pay:
Endorsed midwife-led clinic
- You can choose to see the same midwife throughout your antenatal care.
- The midwife makes decisions unless a complexity or complication needs the attention of the GP obstetrician.
- If you are a health care card holder you will be bulk billed for your midwife appointments, concession rate for obstetrician appointments.
In the GP Obstetrician clinic, you still see a midwife at your appointments but you see the GP obstetrician frequently throughout your pregnancy, and all decisions relating to your care are made by the GP obstetrician.
Obstetrician-led clinic with a health care card
- You are a healthcare card holder.
- You are a public patient at Peel Health Campus.
- You are charged a concession rate for all your appointments.
- Your choice of obstetrician for your personal pregnancy care.
Obstetrician-led clinic Public without Health care card
- No health care card or Private health Insurance.
- You are a public patient at Peel Health Campus.
- You choose your obstetrician for your personal pregnancy care.
Obstetrician-led clinic with private health insurance
- You have Private Hospital Health cover.
- You are a private patient at Peel Health Campus.
- You choose your obstetrician for your pregnancy care.
- Choosing to use your Private Hospital Health care, you have the added advantage of having your chosen doctor involved in your labour and birth.
- Unlimited Post-natal home visits with a Midwife.
- Admission to Peel Health Campus as a private patient means your support person is allowed to stay overnight with you after your baby is born.
Antenatal care Mandurah
So, what is antenatal care and why choose Nest Medical?
As soon as you are pregnant, your whole universe changes and you start thinking about the routine tests, the milestones in your pregnancy, the choices you will have to make and the many questions that pop up.
At that point in time, you deserve the best possible care and the highest levels of expertise and experience, and so do your baby and your entire family. Here at Nest Medical, we answer your questions and provide the care and support you deserve.
Dr Peter Kell
GP Obstetrician Mandurah
What to expect from your first appointment?
Ideally, your first appointment is booked when you first confirm your pregnancy. This can happen through a home pregnancy test and a blood test.
At your first antenatal care visit, we take the time to go over all the details. We update your medical record so it has your full medical and surgical history, your pregnancy history, significant family history, information about your last cervical screening test and about any medications or vitamin supplements you are taking.
If you have had any blood tests or scans done before your first appointment, we ask that you let us know where the tests were done so we can retrieve the results.
If you need to have a dating scan, this will happen at your first antenatal appointment.
They may be able to do a scan to confirm your pregnancy but you will also get a referral for a formal dating scan at a radiology clinic.
Please bring copies of any test results. If your National Hand Held record has been created elsewhere, please bring it to your consultation at Nest Medical.
How often will I see you during my pregnancy journey?
- Up until 28 weeks: every 4 weeks.
- After 28 weeks: every 2 weeks.
- From 36 weeks: every week until your due date.
If your pregnancy continues past your due date then we see you twice a week until your baby is born.
This schedule is the same regardless of which clinic you choose – the choice of clinic just determines if you see the midwife for most of these appointments or if you see the midwife and the GP obstetrician for most of them.
After your anatomy scan at 19-20 weeks, your next ultrasound is not until around 36 weeks unless there are any concerns in the meantime about your baby’s growth or your well-being.
At Nest Medical, we believe that you deserve personalised and holistic care as a mum and as a family. No matter how simple or complex your care is, we also believe that you deserve to get it at an affordable cost.
A pregnancy becomes high risk when a medical condition arises that can complicate your pregnancy. For example, if you develop insulin-dependent diabetes. Other risk factors include twins, a growth-restricted baby or pre-eclampsia, which means your pregnancy is not going to be as straightforward as we would normally expect.
Some high-risk conditions can still be managed here at Nest Medical and you can still have your baby at Peel Health Campus. It may mean that you need to be under the care of one of the GP obstetricians, rather than under the care of a midwife.
Some complications are considered too high risk for delivery in Mandurah, and this would mean you would give birth to your baby at either Fiona Stanley Hospital or King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth. If that applies to your pregnancy, we would refer you to one of these hospitals. In some situations, you may still be able to have some antenatal care with us at Nest Medical but at other times you may not have this option of shared care and you would continue your antenatal care with the obstetricians and midwives at FSH or KEMH.
During pregnancy, we encourage you to have the flu, pertussis (whooping cough) and Covid-19 vaccines.
All of these vaccines provide benefits to the developing baby and give them antibodies to prevent them from becoming sick with these viruses after birth.
The flu and Covid-19 vaccines have the additional benefit of preventing the pregnant woman from becoming ill with either the flu or Covid-19.
Dr Peter Kell
GP Obstetrician Mandurah
Mandurah maternity
Where will I give birth?
The maternity ward at Peel Health Campus is known to be a warm and relaxing environment. There is a 24-hour spectrum of maternity services to the highest clinical care standards. The facilities are well-equipped and offer 24-hour access to the operating theatre for mums requiring a caesarean section with on-call anaesthetists.
In general, a maximum of two support people can be present, subject to pandemic-related restrictions that may vary. For a caesarean, the maximum is one support person.
The maternity ward at Peel Health Campus delivers babies from 36 weeks gestation. Ideally women who go into labour before 36 weeks will be transferred to Fiona Stanley Hospital or King Edward Memorial Hospital so their baby can be born there. Babies born at Peel Health Campus prior to 36 weeks may need to be transferred to Perth Children’s Hospital so they get a higher level of care.
We have created a dedicated web page about giving birth. It is worth checking out as we answer a lot of your birth-related questions:
Nest Medical Peel region
Nest Medical for antenatal care
When our women’s health clinic in Mandurah was founded as Peel Maternity, we built it around the strong belief that personal care is essential in obstetrics. In a time where ‘evidence-based medicine’ often means that you are bombarded with stats and research outcomes to defend a healthcare decision or suggestion, we believe in thinking for ourselves.
In other words, we look at the data and we look at your personal situation, to make sure we establish what may be best for you.
Our patients choose Nest Medical because they prefer personalised care over mass-institutionalised care and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community here in the Peel region.