It’s important to get the right fit for your health, no matter what stage of your life.
At Blackbutt Doctors Surgery, we partner with our patients to help them navigate their own individual health journey throughout the years. Our experienced Doctors are available to offer professional medical advice, care and support for a range of health concerns and situations, from helping manage heavy periods right through to menopause.
So as your life changes and family grows, we will too. We’re here for the long haul.
Learn more about the health areas our Doctors can support you in:
CONTRACEPTION
There are many contraceptive options available for women, and we understand the importance of choosing the right option for you and your lifestyle. Our doctors will take the time needed to discuss your contraceptive needs and preferences to help you fully understand your options. Our surgery has doctors who are able to insert and remove the Implanon rod and also Mirena, Kyleena and copper IUDs.
As your life and circumstances change, we’ll be here with you to adjust your contraception and troubleshoot any potential issues if needed.
Booking your Appointment Online:
| Reason for Booking | Appointment Type |
|---|---|
| Contraceptive Pill | ‘Regular Appointment’ required |
| Depot Injection | ‘Depot Contraception’ appointment required with Nurse |
| Implanon Insertion | An initial counselling session is required before proceeding with this contraceptive. Please book ‘Implanon Counselling’ for your first appointment. Once completed, book an ‘Implanon Insertion’ appointment. |
| IUD Insertion | An initial counselling session is required before proceeding with this contraceptive. Please book a ‘Regular Appointment’ for your first appointment. Once completed, book an ‘IUD Insertion’ appointment. |
Pregnancy & Family Planning
Pregnancy is an exciting and sometimes overwhelming time and we want to help make this journey as easy and stress free as possible for our patients. There is a lot you can do before you fall pregnant to make your pregnancy as safe and successful as possible for you and your baby. For this reason, we encourage anyone who is wanting to fall pregnant in the near future to begin by making an appointment with their GP.
Your GP will be able to assess you, the patient, and provide up-to-date advice that can help you have the best chance of having a healthy baby and pregnancy.
It’s best to make this appointment before ceasing contraception and if possible, several months before wanting to conceive so that we have time to address any issues that might arise. Even if you have had a baby before it is still important to make this appointment as there may have been new developments in medicine relating to the well-being of mothers and babies since your last birth, and we want to provide you with the best and most effective treatment available.
Blackbutt Doctors Surgery is participating in Mackenzie’s Mission: The Australian Reproductive Genetic Carrier Screening Project. Mackenzie’s Mission is a research study, administered by Australian Genomics, offering reproductive genetic carrier screening to 10,000 Australian couples who are either planning to have children or are in early pregnancy in 2020. The study will give couples information about their likelihood of having a child with a severely debilitating and/or life-limiting genetic condition occurring in childhood.
If you are interested in participating in this study, please book a long appointment to discuss pregnancy planning with one of our doctors or click here to learn more about Mackenzie’s Mission.
Unplanned Pregnancy
All of our doctors provide nondirective pregnancy counselling. What this means is that we will always ask you what you want first before proceeding with any advice around pregnancy and childbirth. We are able to support and refer women for specialised care who are not wanting to go ahead with their pregnancy. We also support and refer women who may have an unplanned pregnancy but wish to proceed with antenatal care. The choice is yours and we will always respect your right to choose with professional and supportive care for whichever option you select.
Subfertility
If you are concerned about your fertility or want to know more about your fertility options our GPs can help. We can assess and provide individual advice or refer you for specialist management if required. We support our patients regardless of their preferences or status; single, partnered, or any family type on their fertility journey.
Miscarriage Management
Unfortunately, not every pregnancy goes according to plan and when it doesn’t it can be a heartbreaking and confusing time. Our doctors can assess and provide support both physically and emotionally should you experience any problems during your pregnancy. We are able also to provide monitoring of your pregnancy and refer you for management through the Early Pregnancy Assessment Service at the John Hunter Hospital.
Booking your Appointment Online:
| Reason for Booking | Appointment Type |
|---|---|
| Pregnancy & Family Planning | ‘Long Appointment’ required |
| Unplanned Pregnancy | ‘Long Appointment’ required |
| Subfertility | ‘Long Appointment’ required |
| Miscarriage Management | ‘Pregnancy Standard Visit’ required |
Antenatal care
All of our doctors are experienced in looking after new mums to be and the post-natal journey, it’s one of our favourite things! We are able to support patients with planned or unplanned pregnancies, if your pregnancy is low risk, we offer shared antenatal care with the John Hunter, Maitland and Belmont Hospitals and can also provide referrals for private obstetric care.
We are always excited to provide antenatal care and welcome a new member to our Blackbutt family.
The care offered to women in pregnancy has come a long way in recent years and there is a lot to talk about! This is why we need your first antenatal appointment to be a long appointment. After that, you will have 15-minute appointments.
Mental Health during Pregnancy and after childbirth
Pregnancy and childbirth is be a time when people can experience great psychological distress. If you ever feel like you just are not coping, that you are a totally different person now that you are pregnant or post childbirth, or that you are not as happy as you think you ought to be in your pregnancy or with your new baby, then please speak to your GP. We are experienced in managing the mental health of women in pregnancy and after childbirth and can provide support or refer you to one of our great local services helping mums-to-be and new mums find their joy again during this challenging time.
Your GP will routinely ask about your mental health as part of your antenatal care and postnatal check. However, if at any stage you have concerns regarding yourself or a new mum you know, please book in and discuss your concerns with your GP.
Booking your Appointment Online:
| Reason for Booking | Appointment Type |
|---|---|
| First Antenatal Appointment | ‘Pregnancy First Visit’ appointment required |
| All following Antenatal Appointments | ‘Pregnancy Standard Visit’ appointment required |
| Pregnancy Mental health Appointments | ‘Long Appointment’ required |
Postnatal Care
After childbirth, new mums go through many physical and emotional changes while learning to care for their newborn, and our team at Blackbutt will be here to support you through every step of your new motherhood journey. The post-natal appointment is for a new mother at 6 weeks post-delivery. During this appointment we will check how you are doing physically and mentally after your birth.
Booking your Appointment Online:
| Reason for Booking | Appointment Type |
|---|---|
| Postnatal Check | ‘Postnatal Appointment – Check for mum’ appointment required |
Childhood Development
If you have a new little one, you will know what a steep learning curve it is! And no two of them are the same. It is very common for parents to bring their children to the GP when they are worried about how they are developing and growing and our GPs are very experienced in this area. We are also in a great position to recommend and direct you to resources online and in our community to support you with any particular problem your child might have.
Whether you afraid your child might have a major medical problem, wondering if you are doing the right thing, or just out of strategies to help your baby feed, sleep and settle successfully, do not hesitate to see your GP. We are happy to see you as many times as we need to make sure your child and your family settle in for a happy and healthy start to life. A standard appointment is usually a good start to working on any concerns.
We also have a range of resources including childhood developmental checklists available on our website, click here to view these resources.
What are the usual check-ups for new babies?
If you have a new baby, congratulations! We are so excited to support you on this wonderful journey.
Usually babies are seen around the first week of life. This is for the doctor to give the baby a quick check up after birth especially checking the heart. There are some heart problems and heart murmurs that only show up after a week which is why the hospital will have instructed you to bring your baby along for a 1-week check. Because they are a new baby and we want to hear all about your pregnancy and their delivery, this first appointment will be a long appointment. When booking this online via our website please choose the appointment type “New Patient” as your newborn will need to be registered as a new patient at our practice.
You can register your newborn as a patient here.
Don’t worry if they do not have a Medicare card yet, we can always add that later. If your child does not have a Medicare card you will simply pay for the first appointment and you will get the Medicare rebate back when you get their Medicare card and details.
The next appointment for your baby will be at 6 weeks old. At this appointment your child will have a physical examination and we will check-in how mum is going as well. Your baby will also have their 6-week immunisations during this appointment. Mum also needs to have a 6-week Post-natal check-up, so if you are not having a check-up at the hospital with your obstetrician please book a separate appointment for yourself for your 6 week postnatal check.
From here your child will have routine checks at 4, 6 and 12 months with immunisations each time. All routine checks and vaccination appointments at the above ages are bulk billed. Of course, we will be very happy to see you in between the standard check-ups for any additional support needed or questions that you may have.
Booking your Appointment Online:
| Reason for Booking | Appointment Type |
|---|---|
| 6 week old check up | ‘Immunisation – 6 weeks’ appointment required |
| 4 month old check up | ‘Immunisation – 4 months’ appointment required |
| 6 month old check up | ‘Immunisation – 6 months’ appointment required |
| 12 month old check up | ‘Immunisation – 12 months’ appointment required |
| 18 month old check up | ‘Immunisation – 18 months’ appointment required |
| 4 year old check up | ‘Immunisation – 4 years’ appointment required |
| Additional check up | ‘Regular Appointment’ required |
Menopause
Menopause is an individual experience for each woman. Having a GP who is there for you over the years and knows you well can give you the individualised support you need during this time. Our doctors can discuss the options for treating your menopausal symptoms, follow up and adjust them as the years go by.
Booking your Appointment Online:
| Reason for Booking | Appointment Type |
|---|---|
| Menopause | ‘Long Appointment’ required |