Shared Maternity Care

Shared maternity care is a model of care where a woman’s pregnancy care is provided by hospital staff and a community-based accredited shared maternity care GP, Midwife or Obstetrician.  In shared maternity care, labour, the baby’s birth and immediate postnatal care are managed by the hospital.

On this page:

How to become a shared maternity care affiliate
Guidelines for shared maternity care affiliates
SMC affiliate application form
SMC Guidelines

Shared maternity care aims to provide a high quality community based, holistic, safe and culturally appropriate model of care for women which offers continuity and convenience. This model of care is popular with women who are healthy and have a normal pregnancy.

How to become a shared maternity care affiliate:

The accreditation of shared maternity care affiliates is managed through the Shared Care Maternity Collaborative consisting of:

Northern Health
Mercy Hospital for Women
Werribee Mercy Hospital
The Royal Women’s Hospital
Sandringham Hospital
Western Health

Guidelines for shared maternity care affiliates 2020-2022 support and guide this process. GPs and obstetricians wishing to apply for credentialing as a shared maternity care affiliate for 2023-2024 can download SMCC_Credentialing_Application_form_GP_Obs_2023-2025

Completed application forms and supporting documents can be emailed to the Primary Care Liaison Unit at nh-primarycareliaison@nh.org.au

All GP and obstetrician applications are assessed by our Primary Care Liaison medical advisor. Depending on qualifications and experience, applicants may be required to complete a learning module and undertake supervisory sessions at our antenatal clinics.

Affiliates will be invited to undertake re-accreditation at the end of each three-year period. To meet re-accreditation requirements, affiliates must provide evidence of:

– current medical registration
– medical indemnity insurance
– a minimum of 10 pregnancy-related Quality Improvement and Continuing Professional Development (QI&CPD) points
– a signed Shared Maternity Care Affiliate agreement.

Guidelines for Shared Maternity Care Affiliates

The guidelines for shared maternity care affiliates have been developed to support and assist accredited shared maternity care affiliates to provide high-quality care. The guidelines contain useful and relevant information about:

– evidenced-based care
– pathways for referral
– expected standards of communication
– expectations and requirements in the case of abnormal findings.

Downloads

Shared Maternity Care Guidelines 2021

SMCC_Credentialing_Application_form_GP_Obs_2023-2025

Contacts:

For shared maternity care accreditation enquiries, please contact:
Primary Care Liaison
Email: nh-primarycareliaison@nh.org.au Phone: 8405 8815 (option 5) -Monday- Friday

For maternity related enquiries:
Contact:  Shared Care Midwife
Email:      maternitysharedcare@nh.org.au
Phone:     8405 8772  Monday to Friday 8am–4.30 pm

For SMC accreditation application information
Contact: Primary Care Liaison
Email:     nh-primarycareliaison@nh.org.au
Phone:    8405 8815 (option 5)