Redevelopment project

The building of the new Mater Mothers’ Hospitals (MMH) is part of a major capital upgrade of the facilities at the Mater South Brisbane campus and the result of a partnership between Mater Health Services and the Queensland Government, totalling more than $188 million.

On completion in June 2008, the new MMH will provide care for a diverse range of families with very different but very specific care requirements.

An eight level building that contains state-of-the-art and contemporary features, the family-focussed facility is designed to enhance the quality of care and patient experience.

Features of the new hospital include a pendant gantry system located at each of the Neonatal Intensive Care and High Dependency cot spaces to enable staff easier access to specialised equipment and to provide the highest level of evidence based care for critically ill neonates.

In addition, hearing loops have been installed in various locations to facilitate communication with hearing impaired women; a built in baby bath and hand wash unit designed by MMH staff is incorporated into each inpatient room; and each inpatient floor has a fully accessible room for use by a woman who is disabled, or a woman whose support person is disabled.

The new facility also includes 16 birthing rooms with direct access to refurbished operating suites and recovery unit; 12 pregnancy assessment and observation beds; an early pregnancy assessment unit; 79 cot neonatal unit; antenatal clinics; maternal fetal medicine service; public and private inpatient wards; and other ambulatory facilities.

The new MMHs are designed to meet the needs of women who have high-risk pregnancies and babies who require highly specialised neonatal care, without neglecting or compromising the facilities for the women who have an uncomplicated low risk pregnancy.