News

New Specialised Health Service For Women On The Sunshine Coast

Mar 08, 2010

It’s a first for the Sunshine Coast.

A new dedicated tertiary level obstetric and gynaecologic ultrasound practice has commenced at Nambour Selangor Private Hospital, offering services including prenatal diagnostic testing (chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis).

The service, provided by Advanced Women’s Imaging, is located in beautifully appointed rooms within Nambour Selangor Private Hospital’s allied health precinct.

The opening of Advanced Women’s Imaging will give more choice and improved diagnostic ability to women and doctors on the Sunshine Coast. Prior to this, local women had to travel to major metropolitan centres like Brisbane and Sydney to access this level of service, adding more stress to an often anxious time.

Prenatal diagnostic testing optimises the diagnosis and management of chromosome abnormalities. This is of crucial importance for older mothers (risk levels increase as a mother ages), pregnant women with high risk results on their first trimester screening and women with a history of chromosomal or genetic disorders. Down Syndrome, Patau Syndrome and Edwards Syndrome are a few examples of chromosome abnormalities that can be detected.

Women experiencing fertility problems will also benefit from this new service, with the availability of the HyCoSy procedure as an alternative diagnostic tool for the investigation of infertility and the assessment of tubal patency. Previously this testing was done by x ray. The ultrasound opens up the possibility of additional information available to assist in the conception process.

Other services include First Trimester/Dating Ultrasound, Nuchal Translucency Ultrasound and First Trimester Screening, Second Trimester Morphology Ultrasound and Pelvic Ultrasounds.

Advanced Women’s Imaging will have cutting edge technology using the Voluson E8 (GE) ultrasound machine, which has 3D and 4D imaging capabilities. Women can have their results on DVD, still images on CD or select images printed and bound into a folder.

The new women’s imaging service is provided by Dr Denise Ladwig.

Dr Ladwig, (B Med FRANZCOG DDU) is an Obstetrician Gynaecologist and Ultrasound specialist. She works exclusively in women’s imaging, completing her fellowship at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney in 2002. She has worked extensively in both public and private hospitals.

Women will receive individual consultations with Dr Ladwig following their ultrasound with an opportunity to ask questions and discuss findings. This personalised support and service may reduce the anxiety typically involved in waiting to go back to their GP or referring specialist for discussion of the results.

The addition of the service enhances Nambour Selangor Private Hospital’s evolution as a world-class maternity facility and leader in the provision of women’s health care services.

“Around 1000 babies are now born at Nambour Selangor Private Hospital each year,” said Shane Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer. “Our Hospital’s position as a birthplace of choice for women on the Sunshine Coast and beyond is testament to the unique philosophy of collaborative care nurtured between midwives, obstetricians, paediatricians and anaesthetists over the course of twelve years.”

Offering women and their families true choice in childbirth, Nambour Selangor Private Hospital was the first hospital in Australia to offer water births and is one of the few hospitals in Queensland to offer options such as natural twin births and natural birth after one or more previous caesareans.

“Women and their families have travelled from as far afield as Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, The United States and The United Arab Emirates to have their babies here at Nambour Selangor Private Hospital,” Shane Mitchell went on to say. “We also regularly have women travel from Toowoomba, Ipswich, Bundaberg and various mining communities in western Queensland to have their babies here.”

“We are honoured to have Dr Ladwig and her obstetric and gynaecologic ultrasound service available to mothers and families in our community. The services will be of great benefit to women, families and other medical professionals.”