Welcome to Avonlea Clinic – the private practice of Dr Marilla Druitt, Dr Anne Hotchin, Dr Tony Ma, and Dr Vidhu Krishnan.
Your initial point of contact will be with our warm and friendly reception team – Donna (Practice Manager), Corinne, Sarah and Bec who will welcome and support you throughout your pregnancy.
Our experienced specialist team provide compassionate and comprehensive obstetrics care for women during pregnancy and childbirth, working with you and your family to promote a successful, informed and safe outcome.
We understand this is a very special time for you and your family – our priority is for you to experience a safe and enjoyable journey through pregnancy, to birth and postnatal care.
Our doctors provide birth care through St John of God Health Care Geelong.
Our services
Avonlea Clinic provides comprehensive specialist medical care for pregnancies including:
Pre-pregnancy assessment and counselling
Normal pregnancy management, antenatal care and confinement
Complicated and high risk pregnancy
VBAC (vaginal birth after Caesarean section)
Twin pregnancy
Postpartum care
Pregnancy care
We are 21st century professionals and offer a group practice approach to your pregnancy care.
We share our on-call for weeknights and weekends. We believe this helps us provide you with our best care.
Appointments
All consultations are at our clinic, 159 Yarra Street, Geelong.
There are four office staff Corinne, Sarah, Bec and Donna (Practice Manager). Together they will handle your appointment bookings, accounts, certificates and all general enquiries. All medical enquiries will be referred to your doctor.
All consultations are by appointment; please call 03 4245 2007 during office hours to make appointments.
Medical care after hours
Weeknights
All our doctors share weeknight cover, but in some cases will be covered by specialists listed under “Weekends”
Weekends
Our doctors provides weekend cover as part of a roster with Dr Sam Sabary, Dr Karl Najjar and Dr Tracey Gilchrist. If you are seen after hours by a specialist covering our doctors you will not be charged an out of pocket fee.
Our obstetricians offer (if appropriate):
- Management of labour after Caesarean section
- Twin vaginal birth
- Bath use in labour
- Delayed cord clamping (in the setting of actively managed third stage)
- Skin-to-skin neonatal care
Exclusions
As we provide a medical model of care, the following are not provided by our clinicians:
- Post 42 weeks pregnancy
- Planned breech vaginal birth
- Water birth
- Physiological third stage (placental delivery)
- Lotus birth
- Planned birth outside hospital
St John of God Health Care Geelong
Address: 80 Myers Street, Geelong VIC 3220
Phone: 03 5226 8888
Website: sjog.org.au
Pregnancy education
Parent education
Comprehensive classes are available through the hospital. A list of antenatal classes and workshops offered and the times that they are available will be sent to you when you book into the hospital.
Books
The following publications provide a broad range of opinions combined with sensible practical advice:
- “Up the Duff” by Kaz Cooke
- “Everywoman” by Derek Llewellyn-Jones
- “Conception, Pregnancy & Birth” by Miriam Stoppard
- “New pregnancy & birth book” by Miriam Stoppard
- “Your Baby & Child. The essential Guide for every parent” by Penelope Leech
- “Keep it Simple Series. Guide to Pregnancy” DK: Felicia Eisenberg Molnar
- “Twins. From conception to 5 years” by Averil Clegg & Anne Wallett
Websites
Ultrasound assessment in pregnancy
Ultrasound is considered completely safe in pregnancy and is now a routine part of antenatal care.
Early pregnancy evaluation
The due date of a pregnancy is calculated by adding 40 weeks to the first day of your last menstrual period. If you have irregular menstrual cycles, calculation of the due date is difficult. An ultrasound is therefore recommended before 14 weeks to check how many weeks along your pregnancy is. In the case of bleeding and pain in early pregnancy a scan can be useful to check that the pregnancy is progressing normally.
First trimester combined screening
Between 11 weeks and 3 days to 13 weeks and 6 days gestation a First Trimester Screen is offered to all pregnant women. This test is to screen for chromosomal abnormalities in your baby. The decision whether to have this additional screening test is entirely yours. The scan is done at a medical imaging centre outside the practice and charges vary according to practitioners. The FTS involves a blood test (at 10 weeks) and an ultrasound at approximately 12 weeks.
Non-invasive prenatal screening
Non-invasive prenatal DNA screening (NIPS) is an alternative to FTS for chromosomal abnormalities. Your blood is taken after 10 weeks and DNA from the placenta examined to determine if there are certain chromosomal abnormalities. This may be done as well as FTS, or as a follow-on test if the FTS records an increase in risk. These tests will be discussed at your booking visit in more detail.
Midtrimester scan
Between 18- 22 weeks of pregnancy a fetal anatomy ultrasound scan is recommended, where your baby’s development is systematically reviewed. This is also done at a Specialist Ultrasound Centre outside the practice and charges vary according to practitioner.