Providing efficient and thorough care during early pregnancy
01 May 2023
The Lyell McEwin Hospital’s midwifery-led Early Pregnancy Unit is the first of its kind in South Australia to support women who experience pain and/or bleeding in the first trimester of their pregnancy.
The early stages of pregnancy can be exciting and joyful but when pain and bleeding occurs, it can be very distressing. The Early Pregnancy Unit has been established to provide gold-standard care to women in our community and is led by a team of advanced care midwives.
All midwives working in the unit are credentialed for advanced scope of practice, enabling them to assess and manage women in their early trimester.
Since the introduction of the Early Pregnancy Unit in 2015, presentation numbers have grown from approximately 20 per month to over 100 per month. Approximately 70% of these presentations would have previously been seen in an Emergency Department.
Michelle Marsh, Midwife Nurse Unit Manager said that while it can be distressing for a woman to experience pain and/or bleeding, it is not classified as a high-priority emergency under the Australasian Triage Category System.
“Women were often waiting in the emergency department for lengthy periods of time to find out whether they have a viable pregnancy or if they have suffered a miscarriage.”
Pictured: Clinical Midwife, Danielle Mellor and Associate Nurse/Midwife Unit Manager, Kelly Stegmeyer
“Since establishing the unit, there has been a redirection of women from the Emergency Department to the Early Pregnancy Unit. These women not only now avoid the excessive wait but also receive exceptional, empathetic care from experienced clinicians, providing advanced clinical and psychological care.”
The Early Pregnancy Unit comprises of 12 midwives and operates out of the Women’s Assessment Unit in the Lyell McEwin Hospital.