Yes – Absolutely!

Our midwifery services have recently changed, and the options for care with our midwives can be found on the midwifery page, or by chatting with our admin team.

Our midwives work in collaboration with Kindred obstetricians to provide care throughout the course of your journey with us. There are 3 options of care with our midwifery team, enabling families to access the type of care that is relevant to their preferences.

For all families, the midwives are available for routine appointments, long appointments for education, birth mapping and preferences, and to discuss feeding and preparing for parenthood. Our midwives also provide comprehensive postnatal support with home visits and weekly phone check ins.

We understand having a known midwife for labour and birth is a strong preference for some families, and we would love to discuss with you how having care with the Kindred team (midwives and obstetricians) can align with your values, so you feel well supported with this approach to continuity. Places in our midwifery continuity model are limited, and expressions of interest for this model are considered on a case by case basis.

For the first time, private midwifery and obstetrics have been brought together to allow complete continuity with a team who support you in your preferences and unique journey.

In other models, accessing midwifery care means that if you need input from an obstetrician, it may be someone you have never met before and doesn’t understand your story, journey and preferences.

Similarly, in other practices, obstetric patients may not meet a midwife until the day of labour, and or have input from a number of different midwives, which can be difficult. If you chose to have care with one of the doctors at Kindred for your pregnancy journey, Kindred midwives will see you during your pregnancy for education and support, then for six weeks of in-home midwifery visits.

Kindred has been established as a ‘best of both worlds’ approach, to allow families care that is specifically important to them.

Kindred’s unique practice model means you can choose to have complete care with midwives and obstetricians who recognise that not all families need or want the same thing. Therefore we have designed Kindred with an understanding that care is better delivered in collaboration, rather than isolation. For the first time, Kindred has brought private midwifery and obstetric care together to allow access to and continuity from known care providers throughout your entire journey.

Kindred prides itself on continuity of care and is passionate about delivering care that is family focused.

All Kindred families have the opportunity to meet both the doctors and the midwives who will involved in your care, so no matter your circumstance, you always have a familiar face alongside you.

Kindred aims to keep fees affordable to allow our services to be accessible to as many families as possible.

There are some out of pocket costs for private care. These will differ for each family, but generally include consultation fees, scans and blood tests, pregnancy management fee and gap payment for hospital admission.

Consultations during pregnancy and after birth attract Medicare rebates, therefore you can claim some of your appointment fee back. Depending on your private health cover, you should have little to no out of pocket cost for hospital admission, but it is important to understand what you are covered for.

Your fee schedule will be emailed to you prior to your first appointment and our team welcomes any questions you have about this. It is important to understand the difference between Kindred’s fees and those of other providers. At Kindred, you may incur fees for:

– Appointments in clinic from 6 weeks – 41 weeks of pregnancy and at 6 weeks postpartum, as well as for general gynaecology, education, fertility or allied health services.

– Pregnancy Management Fee (paid once at or around 28 weeks of pregnancy)

– Post-natal home visit services (we offer x2 Bulk Billed home visits to ensure everyone is settled in in the same way, then ongoing visits with the midwife attract a fee, and a medicare rebate).

A Pregnancy Management Fee (PMF) is a once-off fee which gives you access to 24-hour care from the midwives and doctors at Kindred from the beginning of pregnancy through to six weeks after birth, including having someone you know and trust there to help welcome your baby

The pregnancy management fee is paid once during pregnancy and covers the cost of the care provider managing your pregnancy and being available for your birth. This is a seperate fee to those you pay for consultations, but also attracts a medicare rebate for medicare eligible families.

We believe in providing care that is value based, rather than cost specific, therefore we also include in your pregnancy management fee; your first visit to see the midwife, and your first two postnatal home visits.

To have your complete pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal care with our team, you do need to hold appropriate private health cover – this means you have obstetric cover where you are able to be admitted as a private patient in a private hospital. Some families who don’t have this level of cover chose to be self-funded private patients, or others chose to have shared care with a public hospital.

We can provide shared care for patients who plan to deliver as a public patient. This means having your pregnancy care with Kindred in our clinic, and six weeks of in-home midwifery support after birth – however any inpatient/hospital care (including labour and birth) is provided by hospital staff at your local hospital.This allows you access to the benefits of continuity throughout pregnancy and postnatal period, which may be more than a local hospital can offer.

Having shared care with Kindred does not change your access to a choice of public hospitals; allocation to hospital is based on your residential address and outside of the control of our practice.

If this is something that might be appropriate for you, we welcome you to discuss your options with the Kindred team. Information sheets on options of care without private health insurance are available by request.

Ideally we like to begin care during the first trimester, to ensure screening and support for a healthy start to pregnancy.

Your first appointment at Kindred would ordinarily be about 6-10 weeks gestation, but if you are already further along we are more than happy to see you at any time.

Yes, we realise not everyone has the opportunity to attend appointments within business hours. We are flexible with appointment times and are able to offer both early morning and evening appointments.

Yes! We have a free onsite car park at the back of our clinic (off Princess St) and free street parking is readily available within 200m along Princess street.

Kindred Midwifery postnatal in-home visits are available to anyone, regardless of where or with whom you had your baby. Bookings can be made via phone or email.

Kindred’s education modules, classes, and resources are also available to all families, even if you are having your care elsewhere.

Consultations during pregnancy can be provided to anyone at any time, however without a current referral Medicare rebates are not available. If you wish to transfer your care to Kindred from another provider, we are happy to see you at any time throughout your pregnancy and welcome you to contact us to discuss your options.

All pregnancy care is provided in our community clinic rooms at East Brisbane.

All labour and birth care is provided at Mater Mothers Private Hospital.

We do not provide homebirth care, but are happy to support you in your preferences in hospital, including waterbirth. We do not have admitting rights to any other hospitals.

Postnatal care for mothers and babies is provided in home after discharge from hospital.

Continuity in care providers has been identified as the most influential factor in both optimal clinical outcomes and positive experiences in maternity care.

Continuity  means unbroken and consistent care from a known person/s. It promotes autonomy, self-efficacy, and increased satisfaction through enabling informed decision making.

Working collaboratively in maternity care is paramount. Midwives and obstetricians have skills and knowledge which compliment each other, and when used with like-mindedness to support women and families in their unique journey, optimal outcomes are achieved, both in terms of clinical outcomes and positive experiences.

Kindred is the only practice where continuity and collaboration between midwives and obstetricians is at the core of practice philosophy and is provided throughout the entire journey – from early pregnancy, throughout labour and birth, and for six weeks after birth.

Our routine visit schedule is based as a guide, and can be tailored to suit the needs of your family.

We usually suggest:

• monthly appointments from 6-28 weeks
• fortnightly appointments from 28-36 weeks
• weekly appointments from 36 weeks – birth

Postnatal in-home visits are scheduled according to the needs of each family, but as a guide suggested visits occur twice within the first week at home, then weekly thereafter.