Caboolture Hospital maternity care at state forefront
irst time mum Larissa Hatt (pictured left) gave birth to son Archer last week, and was supported through her pregnancy by midwives from the hospital’s midwife-led group practice, Holding Hands. Pictured with Larissa and Archer are new dad Chris and midwife Nicole Lambalika.
Mums and mums-to-be have voted Caboolture Hospital one of the best in Queensland for maternity care.
Caboolture Hospital Director of Nursing and Midwifery Anne Clayton said a recent statewide survey found that local women are very happy with the maternity care they receive before, during and following birth at our hospital.
“The newly released 2014-2015 Maternity Patient Experience Survey Report highlights some positive findings about the maternity care at Caboolture Hospital, but also some areas that we will improve,” she said.
The overall satisfaction for antenatal care was a stand out with 81 per cent of mothers rating our antenatal care as very good; this is eight per cent higher than the average for other public hospitals in Queensland.
In addition, the overall satisfaction for care during birth and home visits was significantly higher than the average score for other public maternity services across the state
Caboolture Hospital’s maternity care was also identified as the leading Queensland public hospital for a range of patient experience criteria including the opportunity to participate in maternity care at home and the patient’s choice whether labour would be induced.
“Seventy-three per cent of women felt like they had a choice of whether they would be induced; this was 12 per cent higher than the state average,” Anne said.
“Women trusted our doctors and midwives because they felt listened to and treated with kindness and understanding.”
Anne said cultural sensitivity and support from midwives was highly regarded, as well as the appropriate pain management that was offered to patients, and teamwork of doctors and midwives, and the effectiveness and accuracy of referrals to antenatal, birth and postnatal care.
“The survey results provide valuable insights into patient experiences, but also highlighted some areas in the maternity unit that could be improved on into the future,” she said.
“In particular, women were saying that we could improve our education and support more around breastfeeding and the emotional changes they may be experiences after birth,” Anne said.
“We also plan in the future to provide further opportunities for mothers to discuss their labour immediately after the birth of their newborn with clinicians.”
Caboolture Hospital supports the delivery of around 2,000 births each and is the leading hospital nationally for the number of midwife-led group practices available where women see the same midwife or group of midwives before, during and after the birth of their babies.
The full Maternity Patient Experience report is now available.