About maternity services bypass

All WA metropolitan public hospital maternity services work together to provide safe and timely maternity care.

Due to the very nature of pregnancy, we cannot plan with certainty the number of birthing mothers who may present to Peel Health Campus on any given day, so it is important a process is in place to ensure every woman receives the care she requires at all times.

All WA metropolitan public hospitals providing maternity care use a standard operational practice known as ‘bypass’ to manage instances of unusually high demand. This means birthing mothers may be diverted or transferred to another hospital for their continuing care. The decision to divert or transfer birthing mothers is always made in the interest of patient safety.

Understanding the bypass process

Please be assured you will not be transferred to another hospital in any situation where it is not safe to do so.

When you make contact to seek advice or update the midwives on your labour progress, our maternity unit staff will advise you if the unit is on maternity bypass.

The midwife on the telephone will ask you a series of questions, including the reason for your call, to help identify which hospital is best suited to the care you need. The midwife may still ask you to come to your planned hospital first so you can be assessed before a decision is made to transfer your care to another service.

Once a decision has been made to transfer your care, the midwife will advise you which maternity service has accepted your care, where they are located and the phone number for the accepting maternity unit.

Copies of all your medical records will be faxed to the alternative maternity unit and the midwife will provide the receiving unit with a summary of your pregnancy and care so far. Please take your Pregnancy Handheld records with you.

If you are transferred from our hospital this will be via ambulance at no cost to you. If it is safe to do so, you may be able to make your own way to the alternative service.

Throughout the bypass we will keep in contact with your alternative maternity service and will endeavour to transfer you back into our care once the bypass is over.

No matter where you receive your maternity or labour care, our midwives will provide follow up care after the birth of your baby.

Directions to public hospital maternity units

Open the camera on your smart phone and aim it at the QR code underneath the alternative maternity service you are being diverted/transferred to.

Your camera will scan the code and prompt you to ‘Open in Google Maps’. Once open, Google Maps will open a map and directions for the relevant hospital or health service.

Rockingham General Hospital Elanora Drive, Cooloongup Maternity Unit, Level 2, B Block Triage Midwife: 9599 4509
Fiona Stanley Hospital 102 – 118 Murdoch Drive, Murdoch Maternal Fetal Assessment unit, Level 3 Access via the blue lifts on the main concourse Triage Midwife: 6152 8853
King Edward Memorial Hospital Bagot Road, Subiaco Level 1, B Block Triage Midwife: 6458 2199
Armadale Health Service 3056 Albany Highway, Mt Nasura Antenatal Assessment Unit, Level 1 Triage Midwife: 9391 2947