Maternity referrals
Women requesting maternity care at Western Health require a GP referral.
GPs are required to provide the following information and tests results for triaging and appointment allocation.
The regional maternity referral form below outlines information and tests required for referral and can be downloaded into GP software to assist with the referral process.
Catchment suburbs for Bacchus Marsh
Catchment suburbs for Joan Kirner
Information required
Pt details – Name, address, DOB, phone, interpreter details
GP details
LNMP
EDC
BMI
Past medical and obstetric history
Investigations
Mandatory
Fax referrals, with available results, to Women’s clinic on 9055 2125.
Regional Referral Form
Western Health, Djerriwarrh Health Services and Werribee Mercy Hospital have revised their jointly developed regional maternity referral form that encompasses all maternity services within the area (and can be used for Mercy Hospital for Women Heidelberg). This means the one referral form can be completed and sent to any of the participating hospitals. The aim is to reduce the unnecessary duplication of forms required by GPs and ensures that comprehensive clinical information is included in the referrals to allow to accurate and efficient triaging.
The April 2019 Maternity Referral Form is available as a Medical Director, Best Practice and ZedMed compatible template. It is also available in a word version for upload into other practice software and as a PDF version.
Word template 
Maternity Care Referral Form 2022
PDF template Maternity Care Referral Form 2022
Medical Director - Medical Director Import Instructions
1. DO NOT OPEN IN WORD
2. Right click on the link and then select Save As… (Or Save Target As…) and then save the file to a location from where you can later retrieve it i.e. desktop or My documents.
3. Open Medical Director and then LetterWriter
4. File menu > Select modify template > Select blank template
5. File > Select import - locate downloaded file
Western Health Maternity Care Referral Form
Best Practice - Best Practice Import Instructions
1. DO NOT OPEN IN WORD
2. Right click on the link and then select Save As… (Or Save Target As…) and then save the file to a location from where you can later retrieve it i.e. desktop or My documents. Open a new letter and from templates menu select Import templates
3. Locate downloaded file and open
4. From File menu select Save as. Type in an appropriate template name and click on save
Western Health Maternity Care Referral Form
ZedMed - Zedmed Import Instructions
1. DO NOT OPEN IN WORD
2. Right click on the link and then select Save As… (Or Save Target As…) and then save the file to a location from where you can later retrieve it i.e. desktop or My documents.
3. Click on Tools > Clinical WP Setup > WP Templates
4. File > Import Template
5. Find the file where you saved it and highlight it and then click Open
6. Enter the template name into the Description field. Click on OK
Western Health Maternity Care Referral Form
Screening for Down’s syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities.
All women, irrespective of maternal age, should be counselled regarding their risk of chromosomal abnormalities and offered screening. Additional out of pocket costs are charged. These tests, apart from second trimester screening, must be ordered by the GP and are not available at the hospital.
Concerns regarding early pregnancy ultrasound
Contact women and children specialist clinics 8345 1727.
Pregnancy ultrasounds
Western Health has limited capacity to perform routine pregnancy ultrasounds. Women will be required to have these with community providers and will be referred back to their GP to obtain referral for routine ultrasounds.
Shared Maternity Care
Sunshine Hospital offers a number of options for pregnancy care to women who choose to birth with Western Health. Shared maternity care is a major model of care in which a woman is cared for by both hospital staff and a community-based affiliate in the antenatal period.
What is Shared Maternity Care?
Shared Maternity Care is a model of care which allows women to have the majority of their antenatal visits in the community with a hospital affiliated GP, obstetrician or midwife. Shared maternity care aims to provide a community-based, holistic, safe and culturally appropriate model of care for women. Women often choose this model as it provides continuity of care, convenience and they have an existing relationship with their general practitioner (GP).
The Shared Maternity Care Program is available to any woman with a low risk pregnancy. The woman attends Sunshine Hospital for some antenatal visits, and attends the hospital for the birth and immediate postnatal care. Alternatively, patients enrolled in shared maternity care may attend a community clinic for most of their 'hospital' visits.
Shared Maternity Care Affiliate Guidelines
The 
Shared Care Guidelines 2021 provide shared maternity care affiliates with concise, up-to-date guidelines on the provision of shared maternity care at the hospitals of the Shared Maternity Care Collaborative; Sunshine Hospital, the Royal Women's Hospital, Sandringham Hospital, Mercy Hospital for Women and Werribee Mercy Hospital. They also include information on antenatal care and hospital and community supports for women and health care providers.
There have been some changes to the shared maternity care pathway during COVID-19. The following document Western Health Antenatal Care for Shared Maternity Care Patients during COVID 19.pdf provides detail on the COVID-19 pathway.
Applying to become a shared maternity care affiliate
GPs wishing to become a Shared Maternity Care Affiliate at one or more of the following sites; Sunshine Hospital, Royal Women's Hospital, Sandringham Hospital, the Mercy Hospital for Women, Werribee Mercy and the Northern Hospital must fulfil one of the following criteria:
DRANZCOG - primary qualification in last 5 years (recertification required)
Diploma Obstetrics RACOG (no recertification required) plus recent involvement in provision of antenatal care
CSCT in Women's Health plus recent involvement in provision of antenatal care
FRANZCOG/FRACOG
Significant hospital experience as an antenatal care provider
Applicants who do not meet the postgraduate/experience requirements may apply to attend antenatal sessions at one of the hospitals.
To apply to become a shared maternity care affiliate, please complete this application form and return to [email protected].
For more information on the criteria to achieve credentialing please contact the General Practice Integration Unit on 8345 1735 or [email protected].
Every three years, affiliates will be invited to be re-credentialed in order to maintain their affiliation. The re-credentialing criteria differ from the criteria required for initial credentialing and requires evidence of ongoing pregnancy related CPD.
Please note these are different from Women's Health points adjudicated by the RACGP. It is recommended that GPs keep the programs of pregnancy related activities they attend.
Education options for recredentialing
- Attendance at the annual Shared Maternity Collaborative Workshop
The Shared Maternity Care Collaborative which consists of Sunshine Hospital, Royal Women's Hospital, the Mercy Hospital for Women and the Northern Hospital host an education day each year on pregnancy related care. Attendance at this workshop meets the criteria for reaccreditation at each of the four sites. Please note that number of registrations is capped for this event.
Supervised Antenatal Session (exclusive of clinic attendances for initial credentialing)
Clinical update antenatal session at any of the four hospital sites or their community clinics. Not available in 2022 due to covid restrictions.
Clinical resources
Shared maternity care schedule of tests and visits
The schedule of shared maternity care visits and tests at Sunshine are consistent with the schedule in the Victorian Maternity Record that is used at the hospital. Download a copy of the schedule (taken from the Shared Maternity Care Affiliate Guidelines 2015)
Victorian Maternity Record (VMR)
The Victorian Maternity Record (VMR) is the hand held maternity record for women used by Sunshine Hospital. The VMR is designed to engage women in decisions regarding their maternity care and to improve communication between a woman's GP and Sunshine Maternity Services.
The VMR should be initiated by Shared Maternity Care Affiliates at the first antenatal visit (approx. 7-12 weeks).
To order copies of the VMR for your practice, or if you have any questions please contact the Shared Maternity Care Coordinator on 9055 3012 or [email protected], or the General Practice Integration on 8345 1735 or [email protected]
Shared Maternity Care Coordinator
The Shared Maternity Care Coordinator is the key person for non-urgent contact for both Shared Maternity Care Affiliates (SMCA) and women enrolled in Shared Maternity Care. The Shared Maternity Care Coordinator responds to issues that arise for women and ensures that non-urgent queries from SMCA are dealt with in a timely manner.
The Shared Maternity Care Coordinator is located at Sunshine Hospital and can be contacted on 9055 3012 or via email [email protected]. Outside of these hours you can contact the Women’s Clinic on 8345 1727.
Contact Us
Shared Care Queries
Shared Maternity Care Coordinator
Ph. 9055 3012
[email protected]
Accreditation inquiries
Jillian Head
Manager General Practice Integration
8345 1735 / 0423 295 285
[email protected]
