"Midwife Group Practice (MGP4)"

From my experience, anyone considering to go midwife group practice for their pregnancy and birth at KEMH should absolutely go for it. The program is world-class (I have lived in other countries incl. Scandinavia which is known for their good health systems) and I believe none compare to how good this is. We received the best and most personalised care, and all free of charge under the public system. It seems that not many people know such health care option is available here in Perth, so definitely important that we get the word out.

My story:

I was a patient of MGP4 at KEMH during 2020. I had heard about the midwife group practice program from a friend who had recently been a patient and highly recommended the program. I asked my GP specifically for a referral to "MGP4" (note: My GP wasn't familiar with the program despite being in the same district as KEMH so definitely pays to do your own research). I was accepted into MGP4 because I live in the catchment area and was low risk.

I was appointed my own midwife named Paula and I saw Paula for all my appointments.  Appointments were at a set time, I never had to wait to see Paula. I hear that can be an issue in the public system and one of the reasons why some choose to go private.

I communicated with Paula by SMS or phone between appointments at any time if I had any concerns or questions. I thought this was fantastic - to have my own midwife on speed dial who knew me and my pregnancy. People pay thousands of dollars for an obstetrician to receive what I think is a similar service, and this was all free of charge under the public system.

When it was time to birth my baby, Paula knew our birth wishes and it was just Paula and my husband with me in the birthing suite. No doctors. It felt very safe, private and personal. By this point in my pregnancy, Paula felt like a friend and this made us feel very comfortable.

I loved my birth experience, it was really positive and powerful (even with a 3rd-degree tear requiring surgery following the birth). Paula and the rest of the hospital team made me feel safe and looked after. 

Once we were home, Paula and her B2B midwife Mel visited us daily for the first 4 days to check-in and see how we were doing. This aspect of the program is the best part as there are so many new things to learn and emotions running in the beginning and this enabled us to learn in real-time in our own environment. We knew Paula/Mel would be coming each day and we would be armed with a list of questions and learnings from the day/night before. This was really amazing and helpful for us as first-time parents.

When we were discharged from the program after 4 days because everything was going well, it was actually a little bittersweet: we were now on our own 2 feet which was amazing, but we were going to miss our daily visits from Paula/Mel and being in the program.

The midwives seriously do an amazing job and work really hard to provide this level of service. World-class!

Thank you!