Pregnant women - COVID-19 maternity care at Flinders Medical Centre

Since the SA borders opened in November 2021, FMC has provided care to COVID-19 positive pregnant women and their families, as the dedicated South Australian hospital for COVID-19 positive maternity patients.

As SA moves into a next phase of living with COVID-19, a transition has occurred to enable each Metropolitan Local Health Network (LHN) to care for COVID-19 positive pregnant women within their catchment where clinically appropriate.

This means COVID-19 positive pregnant women booked to birth at Metropolitan Hospitals (Women’s and Children’s Hospital (WCH), Lyell McEwin Hospital (LMH) and Flinders Medical Centre (FMC)) will birth or be admitted for care at their booked Hospital, rather than transferred to FMC.

As part of the second phase of this transition, regional LHN’s are now returning to business as-usual for metropolitan LHN transfers, which will enable regionally transferred COVID-19 positive pregnant women to receive care or to birth within their usual metropolitan birthing site, where clinically appropriate. 

Regional COVID-19 positive pregnant women at 38 or more weeks, not in labour and with no other risk factors, are no longer required to quarantine in Adelaide, and may quarantine locally with daily monitoring. 

FMC, WCH and LMH will care for COVID-19 positive pregnant women within their catchment area from the private sector as required, rather than all private women receiving care at FMC.

As always, FMC will continue to provide support to other LHN’s during this time, providing care to COVID-19 positive pregnant women who may have higher clinical needs, such as Intensive Critical Care Unit (ICCU).  

You can be reassured if attending FMC, our hospital has dedicated pathways to ensure non-COVID-19 patients remain safe, with COVID-19 patients remaining separate at all times to minimise the risk of COVID-19 exposure to others. Both non-COVID-19 and COVD-19 pregnant women will receive safe, high-quality and respectful care at FMC at all times.

If you are COVID-19 positive and have any concerns, please call the National Coronavirus Hotline (Health Direct) on 1800 020 080.

Information for non-COVID-19 pregnant women at FMC

If you are currently receiving antenatal care or planning to birth at FMC, please be reassured that it is safe to do so.

Your healthcare team will continue to keep you informed throughout your pregnancy care journey with us.

For more information, please see
Pregnant women at FMC fact sheet (PDF 116KB)

Information for COVID-19 positive pregnant women

To ensure everyone is kept safe, if you are COVID-19 positive and need to attend FMC you can expect:

  • to have a single room with an ensuite during your stay
  • staff caring for you to be in full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Your safety is paramount, and each case will be managed with the safety of you and your baby as the number one priority.

For more information, please see:

COVID-19 screening for FMC maternity patients

As part of our response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, a number of preventative measures are in place to keep you, your baby and those around you safe when accessing our healthcare services.

As part of this, you and your partner/support person will be asked to undergo COVID-19 rapid antigen testing on arrival at your point of admission when you come in labour.

This is important especially if you have been a close contact of someone with COVID-19, are symptomatic or meet the epidemiology risks.

For more information about this recommendation, please see our COVID-19 screening for maternity patients fact sheet (PDF 272KB).

COVID-19 Vaccinations for pregnant women

Research from around the world has shown mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, are safe and effective if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning a family.

Those who are pregnant and their unborn baby have a significantly higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 than non-pregnant people.

For more information about COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, visit the COVID-19 Vaccination: Pregnancy, Planning a Family and Breastfeeding at SALHN page.


More information

For more information about our services, visit the Women & Children Services at FMC page.

For more information about COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, visit the COVID-19 Vaccination: Pregnancy, Planning a Family and Breastfeeding at SALHN page.

For more information regarding paediatric COVID-19 positive patients and how they will receive care, please visit COVID Kids on the Women and Children's Hospital website.