October 2005

Dr Ruth Stewart
3 Centres Guidelines Advisory Group
April - October 2005

The 3 Centres are the Mercy, Monash and Royal Women's hospitals. The 3 Centres Guidelines for Antenatal Care are developed under the direction of The Three Centres Steering group.  The 3 Centres Guidelines Advisory Group (3CGAG) was convened to review some of the guidelines developed in October 2001.  The Guidelines Advisory Group was given the task of reading and reviewing the literature relevant to the topic and deciding what practices were supported by high quality evidence.
The guidelines reviewed:
* Antenatal Screening for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria
* Urinalysis by Dipstick for Proteinuria
* Prevention of Early Onset Group B Streptociccal Disease
* Antenatal Screening of Hepatitis C Virus
* The number and Timing of Routine Antenatal Visits

The clinical Practice Improvement Unit at the Royal Women's Hospital performed a literature review to the original questions asked for the establishment and provided the 3CGAG with a synopsis of their findings.

The guidelines are documents which describe recommended clinical actions supported by the available evidence.  They are designed to be used by clinicians in a wide range of practice models and locations.  The input of a GP obstetrician was important; it ensured that the guidelines are applicable to general practice.  Any GP providing antenatal care would benefit from reading these latest guidelines.

During the meetings it became obvious how important it was to have a GP obstetrician in the 3CGAG; without one the 3CGAG would have been designed for large antenatal clinics only and there would not have been a document to give direction for GPs involved in antenatal care.


Ruth Stewart
October 2005