Newborn Care in Hospital

Choosing a private hospital for delivery means choosing private care for your newborn. At or after birth, your baby will be referred to a paediatrician.

Prosper Paediatrics-associated Paediatricians and Neonatologists are accredited with and care for newborns in

Burnside War Memorial Hospital
Calvary North Adelaide Hospital
Ashford Hospital

Many families would like to have (or start) continuity of care with a preferred paediatrician.

You may be hoping to have a particular paediatrician for your upcoming delivery. You may be seeing this paediatrician with your older child or had their care when they were a baby.

Or you may be hoping to try a paediatrician who has been recommended to you by friends or family.

For many families, the healthcare relationship with their paediatrician may be very important and may extend to 18 years or more.

Your obstetrician will organise a referral to your preferred paediatrician as long as they are accredited to care for neonates at your chosen hospital and they are able to accept your baby's referral at that time.

Your private hospital has several accredited paediatricians to ensure choice and safe levels of paediatric coverage for newborns.
Let your obstetrician or the midwives know your preferences regarding your paediatrician.
If you are having a Caesarean delivery, you can ask that your obstetrician book your preferred paediatrician for the delivery when possible.
If your preferred paediatrician is not available for all or part of your newborn's care, the allocated doctor will be happy to refer your baby to your preferred paediatrician, when possible, or for follow-up care.

Our Associated Paediatricians and neonatologists collaborate to provide reliable 24/7 coverage for newborns.

At each of the three hospitals, there are a number of paediatricians from Prosper Paediatrics and other practices accredited for neonatal care to ensure safe levels of coverage and patient choice.

Burnside Hospital Neonates:

Our associated neonatal doctors are strongly committed to providing reliable around-the-clock cover to the maternity unit at Burnside War Memorial Hospital. They work closely together to ensure that any baby in urgent need of care can be attended quickly. Your obstetrician or midwife will know who to call to request advice or an urgent attendance. No time will be wasted.

The following associated doctors regularly care for newborns at Burnside:

Brian Conway, Kavita Rasiah, Marianne Yanni, Lydia Kennedy, Rebecca Holst, Thu Kent.

You can click on their names to learn more about them, their approach, fees and gaps on their web pages.

Neonatal Care in the hospital is detailed below; neonatal billing is detailed here; follow-up care for new babies is detailed here.

Our Newborn Demographic From is here.

Calvary North Adelaide Hospital Neonates:

Dr Thu Kent is often busy caring for newborns at Calvary North Adelaide. Doctors Conway and Kennedy may provide back up cover for Dr Kent occasionally.

Ashford Hospital

Doctors Conway and Kent are accredited to provide neonate care.

Your paediatrician’s care of your newborn:

When your baby is delivered, they are referred to your preferred paediatrician or another paediatrician accredited for neonatal care at the hospital. Your paediatrician’s experience and extensive and ongoing training allow them to oversee, monitor and care for your baby’s health and progress in the first days of life in the hospital. Most newborns are well or may have common issues such as jaundice, low sugar, or slow weight gain, which may require some extra care. The newborn period is a time of extra vulnerability, and your paediatrician will be ready to quickly identify these or any more serious issues or needs and provide special or urgent care.

Locum and overnight Cover

If your paediatrician is unable to provide care for a part of that time, another accredited paediatrician will step in as their locum. Our Prosper Paediatrics group is committed to ensuring that we meet any need for attendance and cover through close collaboration amongst the associates and the sharing of cover overnight.

The Newborn Check

This first attendance is for a detailed standardised newborn check. The paediatrician will aim to identify any issues that may need monitoring or treatment. They will also want to spend some time meeting with you and discussing any questions or concerns. Your paediatrician will attend the delivery if it is by C-section or if there are any concerns.

Otherwise, you will meet your newborn’s paediatrician during their next round of checks, usually within 24 hours of birth, unless needed sooner.

Admitted Care in the Nursery or Rooming in with Mum

If there are any health concerns that require your baby to have closer nursing and medical supervision, your paediatrician will admit them to the Nursery. Otherwise, your newborn will stay with you in your room as a “non-admitted” baby.

Your paediatrician’s further care during your baby’s stay in hospital

Your paediatrician is on call, around the clock, for the care of your newborn during their stay in the hospital and they (or their locum) will attend at any hour if needed. Your paediatrician checks your baby each day on their rounds, reviews the nursing notes and may direct or administer some treatments for your baby. Some of these checks are very brief (such as to quickly assess their colour for jaundice). Other checks will be more involved and allow some opportunities to discuss concerns, and recommended follow-up care. Your paediatrician will stay in touch with the midwives to monitor progress, observations and any issues or concerns, including questions or worries you may have.

The Discharge Check. Before you take your baby home, your paediatrician will see your baby for a thorough discharge check, discuss any concerns, and take you through the various steps of their recommended follow-up care.

If your baby needs Tertiary Level specialised care.

Occasionally, newborns are born very unwell, or serious medical concerns emerge. Your paediatrician will manage their care but may decide to call Medstar (special inter-hospital ambulance service with medical doctors) and have them “retrieved” to the Women’s and Children’s or Flinders Hospitals for tests, specific treatments or other care. The service is excellent, and your baby will be in the care of your paediatrician right up until handover to Medstar. Quite often once a test is done or a treatment given, your baby can be transferred back to your private hospital. Sometimes, the baby needs to stay longer, and you may also transfer to be with them.

The Invoice for your paediatrician’s care in hospital

Neonatal billing is structured around the paediatrician’s attendances for checks, management and reviews during the hospital stay.

Learn more about your Neonatal Care Invoice