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Our approach

Our Care

Newborn paediatric care at Frances Perry House — relationship-based, evidence-driven, with shared decisions where they matter. Antenatal and post-discharge consults available when needed.

Last reviewed

The hospital stay around birth is a pivotal window: feeding assessed and supported, jaundice monitored and treated when needed, weight tracked, the first thorough examination completed. Our care is relationship-based, with shared decisions where they matter. Antenatal and post-discharge consults are available when needed.

How our care fits together

Three phases of care: before birth, at hospital, and after discharge

When needed · Before birth

Antenatal consult

For known concerns, planning ahead, or a conversation before the birth.

The core · At hospital

Newborn care at Frances Perry

Regular review, feeding & jaundice support, weight monitoring, head-to-toe exam, discharge check.

When needed · After discharge

Post-discharge review

For things to watch — feeds, weight, jaundice still settling, or a recheck.

consistent paediatric care, through the stay and the weeks after

Relationship-based ethos · Informed shared decisions where they matter

The hospital stay is the core of the practice — a brief window when feeding, weight, jaundice and screening are all in motion. Antenatal and post-discharge consults are available when there's a reason for one.

The hospital stay is where most of our care happens. Antenatal and post-discharge consults add value when there’s a specific reason.

The first days

Why the hospital stay matters

The first days are clinically busy. In a short window we:

  • establish feeding
  • track jaundice, and treat it if it rises
  • monitor weight against the normal loss curve
  • complete a careful head-to-toe examination
  • watch for the uncommon-but-serious conditions: congenital heart disease, infection, metabolic problems — looking for early signs, and making sure you leave with the warning signs and who to call, since some conditions only show themselves later

Most babies sail through. But which baby will isn’t always obvious on day one, which is where a paediatrician helps — there when needed to support you and your baby through the first days. For what’s likely, monitored, and rare-but-serious, see understanding the risks. And if you’re ever worried about your baby right now, when to seek help sets out exactly what to do.

What the care turns on

Two ideas the care turns on

1. Relationship-based, not just pathology

Newborn care can easily become checklist-driven. We keep the whole baby and family in mind across the stay, and that continuity carries through to the six-week review — or an earlier review where jaundice, weight, feeding or a hospital finding needs one, arranged before you go home.

2. Informed shared decisions, where they matter

Many newborn decisions are purely clinical, jaundice thresholds, oxygen settings, when to escalate. We make those and explain the reasoning. Where there’s genuine choice, feeding routes, timing of investigations, a borderline finding, we lay out the options and decide together. You know your baby; we bring the clinical context.

The three phases

The hospital stay is the heart of it; antenatal and post-discharge consults are there for the families who need them.

A soft watercolour of two stylised hearts, a parent and unborn child.
When needed · Before birthAntenatal consult

For a known fetal concern, prematurity or twins, or any question worth the paediatrician’s input before birth.

Full details

A soft watercolour of a sage bassinet with a swaddled bundle inside.
The core · At hospitalNewborn care at Frances Perry

Reviews through your stay (daily in Special Care), feeding and jaundice support, weight monitoring, head-to-toe examination, and the discharge check before you go home.

Full details

A soft watercolour of a lavender cottage with a heart in the doorway.
When needed · After dischargePost-discharge review

The six-week review we offer every baby — plus earlier reviews when something needs a closer eye: feeds, slow weight gain, jaundice still settling, or a finding flagged in hospital.

Full details

The offering

What we offer, stage by stage

Before birth

  • Antenatal consultation — for a complicated pregnancy, twins, anticipated prematurity, or questions worth settling before the birth. In rooms or by telehealth, with a GP or obstetrician referral for the Medicare rebate.
  • Requesting Dr Jubal for the birth: you can nominate your paediatrician ahead of time, especially for a planned delivery. Let our rooms know, and tell your obstetrician’s rooms of the preference too; they coordinate the paediatric attendance with the hospital. How it works. We will try to accommodate your request, but the nature of the work sometimes means it isn’t possible: other deliveries, illness or leave can affect the roster. If Dr Jubal can’t attend, another paediatrician from the Frances Perry House panel will care for your baby.
  • Registration: the newborn registration form can be completed at any point in pregnancy, and the earlier the better: it gives us your details and circumstances before your baby arrives.

To book an antenatal consultation: contact the rooms.

In hospital

  • Birth attendance: for caesarean deliveries, and whenever the obstetric team asks for a paediatrician.
  • The newborn examination and review through your stay: most days on the postnatal ward, every day in Special Care, managing whatever arises as your baby adapts, with the discharge (“green book”) examination done during the stay.
  • Special Care: if your baby needs the nursery, care continues with daily specialist review; billing changes for longer admissions.

To have Dr Jubal care for your baby: tell your obstetrician — they arrange it with the hospital. How referrals work.

After you go home

The six-week paediatric review

Offered to every baby in our care: growth and weight, feeding, hips, heart, and early development, alongside your GP’s 6–8-week immunisation visit. What’s assessed and how to book.

  • Early review: arranged before the six-week mark when jaundice, weight, feeding or a hospital finding needs a closer look; we’ll tell you before you go home.
  • Tongue-tie assessment: specialist medical assessment of feeding concerns, with division where indicated.
  • After 3 months: a new GP referral continues care for growth, development and general paediatric concerns in infancy.

To book any review: contact the rooms. Clinic fees: outpatient fees.

Practical bits

  • Where: paediatric care at Frances Perry House, Parkville. Antenatal and post-discharge consults at our consulting rooms nearby (Suite 9, Level 2, Royal Women’s Hospital).
  • Fees: most consults attract a Medicare rebate; private health rebates apply for hospital stays. See paying your invoice for the worked-through scenarios.
  • GP / referring obstetrician: see for referrers for our scope and how to refer.
  • The longer picture: what’s likely, what’s monitored, and what’s rare-but-serious in the newborn window: understanding the risks.
  • How to book: through the contact page.

Get in touch

Book a consult, ask a question, or send a referral.