Family doctors - helping parents bring a child into the world
YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR: PREGNANCY
AMA Family Doctor Week 16-22 July 2012
Today is the first day of AMA Family Doctor Week 2012, a celebration of the hard work and dedication of the nation’s family doctors – the GPs who serve local communities in the cities, the suburbs, rural centres, country towns, and remote areas of Australia.
This year, the theme is Family Doctor Week: For a Lifetime of Trusted Care.
Each day this week, the AMA will focus on a stage of life and the key role that family doctors play in helping their patients throughout that stage.
AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, a Brisbane GP, said today that one of the great attractions of a career as a family doctor is being able to provide care and trusted advice across the whole lifespan of a patient.
Dr Hambleton said that family doctors provide care for the whole person for the whole of their life.
“Assisting patients who are expecting a child is the ultimate family doctor experience because we have the great pleasure of treating two generations at once,” Dr Hambleton said.
“Not only do we provide advice, in conjunction with other specialists, to ensure the health of the baby or babies in the womb, we do all we can to ensure that the parents are doing the best for their health and the health of their child.
“It is important to make sure the mother, in particular, is fit and healthy and well prepared for what is ahead.
“It is also our role to connect the expecting parents with other parts of the health system such as hospitals, pathology, obstetricians and other specialists, and midwives – people with whom they may not be familiar, especially if they are expecting their first child.
“We also talk to the parents about establishing and maintaining healthy lifestyle habits such as exercise, diet, and responsible alcohol and tobacco use – things that benefit the whole family.
“The pregnancy and childbirth stage of life is an important time when family doctors build patient loyalty and a personal health improvement focus that can last a lifetime.”
You can view Dr Hambleton’s YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR: PREGNANCY message at http://youtu.be/FbjMDJAdX5c
16 July 2012
CONTACT: Kirsty Waterford 02 6270 5464 / 0427 209 753
