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Fetal surveillance unit

Fetal surveillance unit

For women with concerns about the health and well-being of their baby, our unit provides a comprehensive "walk-up" fetal surveillance service six days a week, incorporating fetal heart rate monitoring and ultrasound. Our obstetric and midwifery team are available to provide advice and support to any woman with reduced fetal movements or high risk pregnancy.

Clinic hours

Monday - Friday 8.00am - 5.30pm
Saturday 8.00am - 3.00pm (by appointment only)

Introduction

Most pregnancies are trouble-free and culminate in the birth of a healthy baby at term. However, when there are concerns about fetal well-being, women can turn to the Mercy Perinatal comprehensive ‘walk-up’ fetal surveillance service, offering fetal heart rate monitoring (cardiotocography) and ultrasound assessment of fetal well-being.

Many of our midwives are national leaders in fetal surveillance education with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists www.fsep.edu.au. Mercy Perinatal also runs a comprehensive fetal surveillance ultrasound training program developed by, and for, midwives.

Our Service

The Fetal Surveillance Unit operates Monday to Saturday and offers a range of fetal surveillance techniques including fetal heart rate monitoring (cardiotocography, CTG), ultrasound evaluation of amniotic fluid (amniotic fluid index measurement) and feto-placental blood flow (umbilical Doppler measurements), and formal biophysical profile assessment. Our midwife-led service is supported by our Maternal Fetal Medicine team, with our ‘MFM of the day’ consultant available for further evaluation and advice. Our Fetal Surveillance Unit also provides the fetal monitoring required for our external cephalic version service and the Pregnancy Day Assessment Centre (PADC).

For clinicians - who can be referred?

The fetal surveillance unit accept referrals for decreased fetal movements and post-dates monitoring (≥41 weeks). For high risk pregnancies, including fetuses known to be affected by fetal growth restriction, midwives in the fetal surveillance unit are able to perform amniotic fluid index measurement and fetal umbilical artery Doppler surveillance. A Monday to Friday walk-up service ensures timely and responsive surveillance, but appointments are necessary on Saturday or for formal biophysical profile assessment. For enquiries and to book an appointment, please call the Fetal Surveillance Unit on 03 8458 4267.