Patient & Practice Info

Your first Visit

This visit is usually scheduled between 8 and 12 weeks. Some patients may need to be seen earlier depending on the pregnancy progress. If you have any concerns prior to your first visit you may contact your GP who can always contact us and we will of course be happy to see you if there is a need.

At your first visit a detailed history will be taken and your antenatal blood tests will be ordered. We will perform an ultrasound scan to establish your dates if you have not recently had one  and confirm that your pregnancy is progressing normally.

Prenatal diagnosis will be discussed and any questions you have will be addressed.

Hospital Booking

Dr McLaren delivers at the Mater Mothers Private Hospital, Brisbane. The Mater is the largest maternity hospital in Australia and is highly regarded for the quality of care provided by its staff.

After your first visit you will need to phone the hospital to book in. The hospital will send you a package of information on education classes, tours, and what to bring to help you prepare for your delivery.

The Mater Mothers Booking Office can be contacted on 3163 8847 or you may wish to do this online by clicking here: Mater Mother's Private Hospital

Antenatal visits

Regular antenatal visits are required to monitor you and your baby throughout your pregnancy.  Routine visits are scheduled monthly until 28 weeks, fortnightly until 36 weeks and weekly until delivery.

These visits provide an opportunity to discuss your pregnancy and delivery preferences, to get to know the team and one another before the birth of your baby.  Partners are most welcome to attend.

Pathology tests

There are a number of important test that are done routinely in pregnancy. These include a Blood group and antibody screen, Full blood count, Hepatitis, Rubella and Syphilis screen. Other tests include screen antibodies for Chicken pox (varicella) ‚  and parvovirus. We also screen for Vitamin D, iron and thyroid as well as diabetes.

Blood tests are routinely done at booking, 26– 28 weeks and 34– 36 weeks.

Additional blood tests may need to  be arranged  depending on your pregnancy progress.

Ultrasound

All women are offered a Nuchal scan between 11 and 14 weeks and a Morphology scan between 18 and 20 weeks.

The nuchal scan is a screening scan which  looks for signs of  Down Syndrome ( Trisomy 21)  and Edwards  syndrome ( Trisomy 18 ) and Pataus syndrome ( Trisomy 13) which are the three commonest genetic abnormalities.

A new screening blood test for genetic abnormality is now available– the Non Invasive Prenatal Test or NIPT. This blood test offers up to a 99% detection rate of genetic abnormality and can be taken from 10 weeks in the pregnancy. The blood is collected in Brisbane and sent to the USA for analysis.

You may be offered a CVS or aminocentesis  depending on the result of these tests.

The morphology scan is a detailed scan of all the anatomy to ensure you baby is developing normally.

Obstetric Roster

In order to provide high quality health care all Doctors and nurses  work on a roster as no one can work 24 hours per day seven days a week. All Obstetricians have weekends off (and some weeknights off) in order to have a work life balance and catch up on sleep as much of our work is performed in the middle of the night.

Dr McLaren shares On Call with five colleagues in The River City Obstetric Group, Dr Brenda Biggs,  Dr Jo Cheung, Dr Fiona Dalzell, Dr Melissa Luckensmeyer and Dr Di Poad.

Babies arrive around the clock and there will be occasions when Dr McLaren is called out during a consultation to attend the hospital. If this occurs when you have an appointment scheduled we will ensure you have another appointment to make sure your pregnancy is progressing normally.

In addition we have Dr Vivienne O’Connor working in the rooms throughout the week providing antenatal care and advice. Vivienne is a caring, dedicated Obstetrician  and Gynaecologist with many years  of experience in Women’s health.  

Dr Robyn Huttenmeister is a highly regarded General practitioner specialising in women’s health and Robyn provides locum holiday cover for the group as well as regular assisting in theatre.

The roster enables all Obstetricians take regular holidays and conference leave to stay refreshed and up to date.

Paediatrician

Paediatricians (or baby Doctors) provide specialised neonatal care for your baby during your hospital stay. They also work on an On Call Roster and a paediatrician will be arranged to examine you baby at birth.

Your paediatrician will arrange a follow up appointment at 6 weeks post partum to check baby.