OBSTETRIC HOME
Welcome to your pregnancy journey with Prologue. Starting right now, we are in your corner and will remain there to guide, care, listen, cheer, workshop, champion and empower you not only during your pregnancy and delivery but also in the initial stages of being a parent. At Prologue, our aim is to allow your journey through pregnancy to be as healthy, safe, informed, individualised, inclusive and therefore memorable as possible. We see it as a privilege that you would entrust your care with us and in return you will receive our dedicated and personalised service.
PREGNANCY CARE WITH PROLOGUE
The whole team at Prologue prioritises making ourselves accessible and available to you. In order to do this, we limit the number of obstetric patients we book. We have purposely chosen to perform deliveries exclusively at the Mater Hospital and the Prince of Wales Private Hospital, meaning we can devote our full attention to you at the hospital of your choice.
As a group we very much appreciate that pregnancy and birth is inherently a natural process. We respect that intervention should only occur when it is both indicated and has been discussed with, and evaluated by, you and your team. We are very experienced and motivated by caring for women with uncomplicated pregnancies who aim to appropriately minimise the medicalisation of their pregnancy and delivery.
To insure the safest pregnancy, the style of antenatal care we give you, needs to be tailored to your specific needs. Some women have pre-existing medical conditions that could impact the course of their pregnancy or not uncommonly, women with no medical history can develop pregnancy-associated conditions. Having a background and training at based at large, tertiary hospitals, all our clinical team have a refined set of skills that are well suited to managing those pregnancies which are, or become, complex. This includes, but is not limited to, caring for women with diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune conditions, uterine fibroids, anxiety and other mental health conditions, eating disorders, epilepsy, twins, IVF conceived pregnancies and those women over the age of 40.
YOUR PRIVATE MIDWIFE
To be sure that we can offer you the best care possible, a key member of the Prologue obstetric team is a brilliant and very experienced midwife, Polly Delaney.
Polly will work with you to form a personalised midwifery support and birth plan so that you are prepared, empowered and confident not only during your pregnancy and delivery but also as you are adjusting and learning to be a parent of a new baby. Polly also offers lactation support and will be able to help ready you and then provide personalised support as you and your baby learn to breastfeed.
You will meet with Polly several times throughout your pregnancy where she will workshop topics such as weight gain in pregnancy, diet in pregnancy, exercise in pregnancy, pregnancy classes and community resources. What makes Polly a particularly unique and brilliant resource for you is that she currently works as a midwife on the Delivery Suite at the Mater Hospital. Guided by this first hand experience, Polly is in a great position to be able to help you prepare for your birth experience, at the hospital of your choice.
Adjusting to being a parent of a new baby can be tough and Polly has your back! She will make sure you have the support and flexibility that is needed to navigate the first few months of parenthood. You will sit down with Polly within one week of having your baby to make sure you, your baby and your feeding plan are on track and stay that way. She is particularly passionate about supporting you emotionally and caring for your mental health.
BREASTFEEDING
Should you decide to breastfeed, it is a skill that is needed to be learned simultaneously by first time mothers and their baby. Easy access to quality guidance and advice is essential during this process.
Your ultimate success at breast feeding starts with preparation before you have had your baby. As the time of your delivery approaches, all of our obstetric patients sit down with midwife Polly who provides lactation support. She will discuss your feelings and intentions regarding how you would like to feed your baby. She can also workshop any fears or stories you may have heard regarding breast feeding. Most importantly, she will start to discuss ways you can start to physically prepare your body before birth to encourage adequate breast milk production when it is needed.
As a client of Prologue, you will also be able to access the lactation service during your stay at the either Prince of Wales Private Hospital or the Mater Hospital. These services are specifically designed to support you and your baby whilst you are establishing breastfeeding in hospital. You can choose to attend structured sessions that run throughout the week, or request a visit to your private room from a lactation consultant during your hospital stay.
Within one week of leaving hospital, you will again sit down with Polly to debrief and troubleshoot any issues you may be having with your recovery or breastfeeding your baby. You will also reconnect with Polly a few weeks later to make sure things are still on track and you are aware of all the community based resources that can become increasingly relevant with time. If needed, we will also arrange for you to have some additional sessions with Polly until you feel confident and comfortable with your feeding plan.
