Expert Pregnancy Care

Janette Is a very experienced  midwife with years of working in all aspects of pregnancy care.  

Her maturity, warmth and personable quiet nature, brings a human relatable  depth to her style. 

She is a longstanding gym enthusiast, likes a good movie, loves a chat, chocolate and ice cream. She adores her two daughters who are forging their own careers in  teaching and advertising. 

Janette takes to heart all her patient interactions, and with humour and knowledge, will soon feel like  your best friend.

Mel is a dedicated midwife with over 25 years of comprehensive experience in all aspects of midwifery care.

She works part-time in the Epworth Freemasons Birth Suite and has also spent over 15 years working in private Obstetrician's rooms.

Mel specialises in providing support for women during labour. While she is a strong advocate for the natural birth process, she also possesses extensive knowledge and expertise in managing care for women with more complex needs. Mel also feels strongly about supporting women in their postnatal journey. 

Outside of her professional life, Mel is married to Sam, and together they have three young adult children—Lucy, Will and Alice - as well as the family dog Freddy.

Influenza is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes. 

Changes to your immune, heart and lung functions during pregnancy make you more vulnerable to severe illness from influenza. Even healthy women with an uncomplicated pregnancy can develop life-threatening influenza. Other complications can include premature labour or stillbirth. 

Getting vaccinated every year protects you against new strains of the virus and reduces the risk of spreading influenza to your baby.  

Babies under six months of age are more likely to be hospitalised with influenza than any other age group.

Babies of mothers who receive an influenza vaccine during pregnancy are much less likely to have confirmed influenza infection in the first 6 months of life and end up in hospital.  The vaccine is recommended anytime during pregnancy. 

Babies cannot be vaccinated against influenza until they are 6 months old. This means getting vaccinated while pregnant can help protect your baby.  

Whooping Cough (also known as pertussis) is a serious disease of the airways.  

Vaccination against whooping cough during every pregnancy significantly reduces the risk of the disease in young babies. It is the best way to protect your baby. 

Vaccination of pregnant women before giving birth has been reported to reduce pertussis disease in infants by 80-91%. By getting vaccinated during pregnancy, you will give your baby some protection until they can have their first immunisations at 8 weeks (2 months) of age.

You should get vaccinated during each pregnancy, even if pregnancies are close together, to protect your baby. This is necessary because your antibodies decrease over time and protection against serious illness declines.

The whooping cough vaccine is recommended between 20 and 32 weeks of every pregnancy although it can be given up to the time you give birth.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a common, highly contagious virus that infects the nose, throat  and lungs. RSV spreads between people when an infected person produces small water droplets while talking, coughing and sneezing. 

Maternal immunisation significantly reduces the risk of severe RSV disease in infants less than 6 months of age. As babies under 6 months are at most risk of developing serious complications from RSV, vaccination during pregnancy is recommended to help protect them from birth.

The RSV vaccine during pregnancy is safe for both babies and mothers.

When you receive the maternal RSV vaccine, your immune system produces antibodies that are passed through the placenta to your baby. These antibodies protect your infant against RSV from birth for up to 6 months until their immune system becomes stronger and they make their own antibodies. 

The RSV vaccine is recommended for women at 28 to 36 weeks of pregnancy because immunity develops in the weeks after getting the vaccine. Babies may not be protected unless they are born at least 2 weeks after the mother receives the vaccine.