Calvary Public Hospital Bruce

Calvary Public Hospital Bruce is located in the suburb Bruce. Bruce is a suburb of the Belconnen district of Canberra, which is located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The Calvary Maternity Unit is family-friendly, and women are encouraged to have their partner or support person with them through their labour and birth.

Calvary offers women the choice of Midwife Led Maternity Care through the Calvary Birth Centre, or a more traditional maternity service through the Calvary Maternity Care Team. If you decide to give birth to your baby in the Calvary Birth Centre, you will receive supervision from the same midwife throughout your pregnancy. The midwife will call for your labour and birth and provide postnatal care in your home.

The Calvary’s birth suite has six birthing rooms with ensuite facilities.

PBB relies on our readers to let us know if information on this page needs updating. Please fill in the form at the bottom of the page if you have any additions or corrections.

Hospital Address

Mary Potter Court, Bruce ACT 2617

02 6201 611

Website Calvary Public Hospital Bruce

Hospital contact image

Hospital’s Map

Calvary Public Hospital Bruce Services

Midwifery Antenatal Clinic

The hospital has a midwifery-run antenatal clinic

Preparation for Birth Classes

Currently the preparing for birth courses are cancelled due to COVID-19.

Caseload Midwifery Practice

A caseload midwifery program is where one or two midwives care for you through pregnancy, birth and beyond. Calvary Public Hospital offers this option.

Publicly funded homebirth program

Calvary Public Hospital does not offer a free homebirth program for low risk women.

Parenting Classes

Currently, the parenting courses are cancelled due to COVID-19.

Breastfeeding Classes

Currently, the breastfeeding courses are cancelled due to COVID-19.

Does Calvary Public Hospital have visiting private midwives?

UNKNOWN

Does Calvary Public Hospital have visiting GP Obstetricians?

UNKNOWN

Does Calvary Public Hospital have visiting Obstetricians?

YES

Hospital Facilities

Antenatal Beds

Birthing Rooms

Postnatal Beds

Special Care Nursery Beds

Neonatal Intensive Care Beds

Are there birth pools available for labour and birth?

Is warm water immersion available during labour? YES

Is waterbirth an available option? YES

Can I use an inflatable birth pool? YES

Birth centres are designed to be a home away from home. A birth centre is a separate unit located away from the standard birth unit. Birth centres encompass a philosophy that pregnancy and birth are normal, natural events in the life of a woman and her family.

YES a birth centre is available at this hospital.

Does Calvary Public Hospital Bruce have a birth centre?

Birth Suite Tour Video

What support is available if I have difficulties breastfeeding my baby?

Breastfeeding/lactation clinic? UNKNOWN

Lactation consultants on the postnatal ward? UNKNOWN

Accredited as a baby friendly hospital? YES

Baby-friendly accredited?

Calvary Public Hospital Bruce is accredited under the global Baby Friendly Health Initiative program. The hospital supports breastfeeding, and lactation specialist midwives are on-hand to ensure babies are feeding well before going home.

Calvary Public Hospital Bruce Statistics

PBB is unable to find separate statistics for individual hospitals in the ACT. The following statistics are from the ACT as a whole.

How a woman’s labour starts influences the chance interventions in labour. If labour starts spontaneously, there is less likelihood of interventions. If a woman has an induction of labour there is an increased chance of further interventions. In the above graph, spontaneous labour refers to labour that starts on its own. Please note that ACT statistics did not tell us if spontaneous labour is artificially sped up with medication or breaking of the bag of water. So spontaneous labour in this graph includes labours that are sped up by medical intervention.

Induction of labour in PBB’s graph refers to one or more of the following interventions used to start labour:

Artificial rupture of membranes
Balloon catheter to open the cervix
Prostaglandins placed in the vagina
Synthetic oxytocin drug to start or speed up labour

No labour is when a woman has an elective (non-emergency) caesarean before labour starts.

Since 1985, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended countries keep the caesarean birth rate between 10–15% to ensure mortality rates are kept low for mothers and babies (WHO’s last statement update was April 2015). Since 1995 the cesarean birth rate has increased every year across Australia. In 2019 the Cesarean birth rate in the ACT was more than double the WHO recommendation.

A small number of breech babies are born vaginally. Instrumental births include forceps birth and vacuum extraction. The caesarean birth rate includes both elective (planned) and emergency (unplanned) caesarean births.

Please note that even though there is a dramatic increase in interventions in labour and caesarean birth – there is no change in the perinatal death rate.

PBB attained the data in the statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

Photo Gallery

PBB has created this page to help you be informed about local maternity services. We’d love for you to send us photos of Calvary Public Hospital Bruce to include on this page. Send photos to our webmaster.