Postnatal Care › Community midwives
Accessing midwives after birth
After your baby arrives you are not on your own. Before you leave hospital you are linked in with midwives who keep supporting you at home.
Last reviewed May 2026 by Dr Sarah Koffmann
Before you are discharged, you are linked into the Midwives in the Home program (MITH). MITH midwives visit you at home and are on the phone for the first week or so, and you can also speak with the Maternity Unit midwives in the days after birth.
At around two weeks, you are referred to the Child and Family Health nurses and midwives at the Community Health Centre. They visit every woman at home within the first fortnight, and you can keep seeing them at the centre as needed after that.
Midwives in the Home (MITH)
The MITH program offers a daily visit from a midwife in your own home up to day six after birth, subject to availability. Getting home with continued support as soon as it is practical is good for both you and your baby.
Child and Family Health nurses
Based at the Community Health Centre on level 3 of Bathurst Base Hospital, the Child and Family Health team offers breastfeeding support, parent support groups, child immunisations and more, all free.
Midwives in general practice
Some Bathurst general practices have a midwife who can offer breastfeeding and general support in the early weeks. Ask your GP whether your practice has one, or check their website.
Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) midwives
If your pregnancy and birth care was through an MGP, the same midwives provide your postnatal care, and after six weeks you are referred back to your GP and the Child and Family Health team. Bathurst does not have an MGP at present, so this applies if you were cared for by the Orange Midwifery Group Practice. Contact Orange Health Service to ask about theirs.