The Royal Women's Hospital, located in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metrop ...

suburb of Parkville, is Australia's oldest specialist women's hospital. It offers a full range of services in

maternity ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...

gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

neonatal An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used ...

care, women's cancers and

women's health Women's health differs from that of men in many unique ways. Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not mer ...

. It also offers complementary services such as social work, physiotherapy, dietetics and pastoral care. Specialist clinics in endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain, menopause symptoms after cancer, infertility are also available. It is a major teaching hospital of over 200 beds with links to the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

and

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 196 ...

. Co-located in the same building is the Frances Perry Private Hospital, a 69-bed private hospital for women.

History

The hospital was established at Eastern Hill by doctors Richard Tracy and John Maund on 19 August 1856 as a place where under-privileged women could give birth with proper medical attention. The doctors were assisted by a group of women led by Mrs Frances Perry, the wife of the Bishop of Melbourne. The original title for the hospital was the ''Melbourne Lying-in Hospital and Infirmary for Diseases Peculiar to Women and Children''. The Women's was the first specialist teaching hospital in the Antipodes, and the first hospital in Australia to train nurses and midwives and the first in Australia to hold postgraduate classes for nurses. In 1858 it was relocated to a site in Carlton, which spanned the block between Swanston and Cardigan Streets and Grattan and Faraday Streets. In March 1884, the hospital was renamed ''The Hospital for Women'', with the royal title being conferred on 6 September 1954. In 2005, then Victorian Premier

Steve Bracks Stephen Phillip Bracks (born 15 October 1954) is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 ...

and Health Minister Bronwyn Pike announced a major redevelopment and relocation of the Royal Women's Hospital and Frances Perry Private Hospital next to the

Royal Melbourne Hospital The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), located in Parkville, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, is one of Australia's leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research. T ...

on the corner of Grattan Street and Flemington Road in Parkville. The new building and facilities, built by

Baulderstone Baulderstone, formerly Baulderstone Hornibrook, was an Australian construction company. History MR Hornibrook In 1926, Manuel Hornibrook founded a construction company in Brisbane. Amongst its notable projects were the Story Bridge and William ...

, were opened on 13 June 2008.Melbourne Healt
Media Release
11 April 2005. Accessed April 28, 2007 The new building cost the Victorian Government $250 million, and has the capacity for more than 7,000 births per year.

References

{{Authority control Hospitals established in 1856 Hospitals in Melbourne Hospital buildings completed in 2008 Teaching hospitals in Australia Women's Hospital, Melbourne Royal 1856 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)