About RHW
The Royal Hospital for Women (RHW) in Randwick is a distinguished healthcare institution with a strong focus on women's well-being. Affiliated with esteemed academic institutions like UNSW and Sydney University, RHW offers a wide spectrum of services, including maternity, neonatal care, and gynaecology.
RHW is a Level 6 service for maternity and neonatal services. Level 6 facilities provide the ‘highest’ and most complex level of care. They act as peak referral services and provide statewide specialist services and leadership within the tiered perinatal networks.
RHW's services cover 'high-risk' pregnancies, newborn care, gynaecological disorders, cancer treatment, and more. The hospital is committed to education, research, and excellence, and it operates as a major referral center in New South Wales. It's a hub of innovation and expertise in women's health, ensuring comprehensive care for women and their families.
Our services are meticulously tailored to address the distinct healthcare requirements of women. Our approach to service provision aligns with our core values of partnership, respect, choice, and compassion.
Royal Hospital for Women (RHW) is a tertiary-level teaching hospital affiliated with UNSW and Sydney University, renowned for its provision of maternity, neonatal, and gynaecological services. We hold a crucial Level 6 Statewide Services role, which signifies our capacity to manage acute and complex patient care issues.
Our wide-ranging services encompass:
- Maternal 'high-risk' pregnancies.
- Care for 'at-risk' newborns.
- Treatment of complex gynaecological disorders.
- Management of gynaecological cancers.
- The free MotherSafe phone service provides a comprehensive counselling service for women and their healthcare providers concerned about exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- Expertise in breast disorders.
- Maternal and newborn services for 'low-risk' mothers and babies residing in the local South Eastern Sydney area, as well as those with gynaecological disorders.
- Delivery of comprehensive education for undergraduate and postgraduate students of medicine and nursing/midwifery, along with specialist training in Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
- A robust research program focused on women's health, maternal and newborn health, and disorders.
Gynaecological Oncology: Excelling in the care of women with gynaecological pre-cancer and cancer, offering diagnostic assessment, treatment, and support.
Gynaecology Services: Span menopause therapy, family planning, endogynaecology, reproductive medicine, endocrinology, and paediatric and adolescent gynaecology, led by prominent experts in research, teaching, and clinical excellence.
Newborn Care Centre (NCC): Neonatal Intensive Care, operating within the NSW Statewide Perinatal Services Network, offering specialized support for mothers at risk of premature birth and babies with birth defects or complications. It also provides a chemical use in pregnancy service and a development clinic that monitors child development up to eight years of age.
Breast Centre: Delivering the diagnosis and treatment of breast conditions, with diagnostic radiology services and a breast assessment clinic.
Maternity Services: Antenatal and acute care, midwifery group practice, delivery, postnatal care, and an Aboriginal maternal and infant health service. It also includes the Statewide drugs in pregnancy telephone advice and counselling service known as Mothersafe.
Maternal Fetal Medicine: Designated Statewide unit of NSW, and the Fetal Therapy Centre recognized by NSW Health as a Statewide center.
Leaders in Research
Our leadership in research is essential to provide better care for women and babies around the world. Our heritage and our future are built upon this important foundation.
Sharing Knowledge
Part of our role as a tertiary referral hospital is to share our knowledge and research with other health care professionals. This empowers health care professionals to provide better care for women throughout the world.
- The Royal Hospital for Women has an incredible history dating back to the beginning of the Colony of New South Wales; when the Benevolent Society established a Female Committee in October 1820 to provide care to poor married women during pregnancy, labour and after the birth of their baby.
- The Royal Hospital for Women has been one of Australia’s foremost specialist hospitals for women and babies, since its early beginnings as New South Wales first ‘lying-in’ hospital for women in 1866. As a principal teaching hospital of the University of NSW in the fields of obstetrics, gynaecology and neonatology the Royal has a history of innovation in women’s health care services, teaching and research.
- In 1992 the Benevolent Society of NSW withdrew from the management of the Royal Hospital for Women. A Deed of Agreement between the Society, the Minister for Health (on behalf of the Crown) and the Eastern Sydney Area Health Service formed the basis for the transfer of the Royal to become an incorporated hospital of the Eastern Sydney Area Health Service. Amongst other conditions, the Deed enabled the Royal Hospital for Women to remain on the Paddington site for 5 years from June 30, 1992 with a one year extension at a commercial lease rate.
- The then Minister for Health The Hon Mr Ron Phillips, following a community consultative process, announced the relocation of the Royal Hospital for Women to a new $40 million purpose built hospital at Randwick.
- In 2004 we celebrated the centenary of the Royal warrant being conferred on the Hospital and being officially known as the Royal Hospital for Women, or more affectionately “The Royal”.
- Throughout it’s growth the RHW has called a few places home : Pitt Street Sydney, Paddington and Randwick. The staff members of the Royal Hospital for Women are honoured to have been warmly welcomed to Randwick in 1997, by the traditional land owners the Eora people and are grateful for their continued support.
Since our pioneer beginnings until present day we have celebrated many incredible milestones.
Some of our milestones include:
- Founding the first “lying-in” hospital in Australia
- Opening Australia's first cancer detection clinic
- Establishing the first diagnostic ultrasound service in Australia
- Performing the first successful fetal transfusion in Australia
- Achieving the world's first fetal cardiac ultrasound
- Accomplishing the world’s first head (cranial) ultrasound of a newborn baby
- Establishing first menopause centre in NSW
- Having the longest continuous running antenatal clinic in the world
- Performing the world’s first operation to save a baby's life while still in utero
- Opening the first comprehensive gynaecological cancer centre in Australia
- Establishing MotherSafe, the first telephone counselling service in Australia advising on medications in pregnancy and lactation
- Performing the first fetal muscle biopsy in Australia
Threads of Time - A timeline for the Royal Hospital for Women