Barwon Health is a level 5 Service that offers a wide variety of Pregnancy Care Clinics to guide families on their journeys to parenthood. We offer a range of pregnancy care across the pregnancy spectrum.

Conditions seen

Barwon Health offers an obstetrics service for the following conditions:

  • GP Shared Care – care with a credentialled GP and the hospital for low-risk women
  • Midwifery Group Practice (including Homebirth) – care by a team of midwives in a continuity of care model
  • Joint Continuity of Care with Midwives and Doctors – Shared care of low and high-risk women in a continuity care model
  • Fetal Medicine Unit – for women experiencing complex congenital conditions or fetal anomalies
  • Preterm birth clinics – for women at risk of experiencing preterm birth less then 32 weeks
  • Maternal Medicine Unit – for patients with pre-existing complex medical conditions
  • Complex Diabetes – for patients with pre-existing type one and type two diabetes
  • NEST wellbeing clinics – continuity of care between midwives, obstetricians, psychologist and psychiatrists for women experiencing birth trauma, mental health, neuro-divergent conditions or complex social situations.

Conditions not seen

Barwon Health only accepts referrals for the above conditions.

How do I access this service

To be seen in these specialist clinics you need to be referred by your GP, another specialist doctor or your Barwon Health doctor.

We are unable to see you in our clinics without a referral.

Wait time

All requests for specialist clinic appointments are scheduled according to the patient’s clinical need. Clinicians assess whether an appointment is urgent or routine, based on information provided in the referral.

Barwon Health aims to see all ‘urgent’ referrals within 30 days. Our wait times for patients who are categorised as ‘routine’ are more variable, depending on the demand for our services.

The Victorian Agency for Health Information also publishes information about the waiting time for routine first appointments.

Routine first appointments | Victorian Agency for Health Information

Speciality
Projected wait time

No Wait times to show

For Health Professionals

State-referral criteria may apply for conditions under this specialty requiring further assessment and management. Referring clinicians are encouraged to utilise Western Victoria Community HealthPathways for referral guidelines and requirements for all conditions.

For urgent referral advice, please contact the specialty on-call registrar via Barwon Health switchboard on 03 4215 0000.

Complete the specialist clinics referral template and send via:

  • ReferralNet
  • Fax: 03 4215 9473

Refer to Pregnancy Care Clinic for:

  • Midwifery Group Practice (including Homebirth)
  • Joint Continuity of Care with Midwives and Doctors
  • Complex Diabetes
  • NEST wellbeing clinics

Address Pregnancy Care referrals as follows for:

  • Fetal Medicine Unit – see Fetal Medicine referral, address Pregnancy Care referral to FMU
  • Preterm birth clinics – see PTB referral, address Pregnancy Care referral to PTB
  • Maternal Medicine Unit – see maternal medicine referral, and address Pregnancy Care referral to MMU

Referral templates for Barwon Health services are available for importing into Best Practice, Medical Director or ZedMed. Please see the Referral templates page for the most up-to-date forms.

If you do not use the above clinical software, please complete a referral letter on your practice/health service letterhead, ensuring all required referral information is included.

If you need to contact us regarding the templates, please contact the GP Liaison Unit on 03 4215 8845 or [email protected].

For patients who require reassessment, a new referral should be sent through. To facilitate earlier access, the new referral must contain the following information:

  • State the referral is an update for a current patient
  • Date of original referral
  • Reason for requesting a review of referral (e.g. deterioration in clinical condition, pathology)

The referrer will be notified of the outcome of the re-triage process.

GPs or referring doctors wishing to discuss the triage of their patient’s referral, or who require additional information, please ring the GP hotline on 03 4215 1398.

Page last updated: September 9, 2025