Our Services

Dr Elizabeth Gallagher offers shared antenatal care, which is a private antenatal care option for women who are delivering publicly. Patients need to be booked into the hospital of their choosing to deliver publicly (North Canberra Hospital – formally, Calvary Bruce, Canberra Hospital or Queanbeyan Hospital).

 The remainder of their antenatal care is shared between Dr Gallagher and ACT/NSW Health community appointments. Dr Gallagher handles all the records and results and ensures the hospital chosen for delivery has a complete antenatal file.

*The delivery is managed by staff at the public hospital chosen for birth and Dr Gallagher will not be attending the delivery.

Our highly skilled team are committed to provide guidance and support to ensure your experience is as stress-free and enjoyable as possible. Our aim is to make every family feel comfortable and have the experience they desire. We provide the following services:

• Pre-pregnancy counselling, investigations, genetic testing
• Treatment of early pregnancy complications eg miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy
• Placement of cervical sutures (cerclage) for Cervical incompetence
• Antenatal care, genetic screening, gestational diabetes management
• Intrapartum care, vaginal delivery, instrumental and caesarean delivery
• High risk obstetrics, previous pregnancy complications, multiple pregnancy, diabetes, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, other medical conditions
• Caesarean sections when indicated eg low lying placenta or where requested
• Post partum care, breastfeeding support, emotional support, contraception including Mirena, Kyleena, Implanon

• Medical and Surgical management of menstrual disorders including polycystic ovarian syndrome, dysmenorrhoea, and menorrhagia
• Colposcopy (in rooms) and surgical management of cervical pathology
• Sexual Health and contraception, including insertion of IUD and laparoscopic sterilisation
• Management of perimenopause and menopausal concerns including postmenopausal bleeding and HRT
• Adolescent gynaecology
• Medical management of pelvic pain and endometriosis, with referral networks for women requiring complex endometriosis surgical management
• Assessment and management of ovarian cysts

Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) is a simple, low risk screening test available to women who are 10 weeks and over. It is a blood test that analyses cell free DNA in the maternal blood and gives a very high detection rate for Down syndrome (Trisomy 21), it also gives an indication of whether the fetus is at a high or low risk of having Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18. It will detect 99% of Trisomy 21 fetuses. The results typically take 7-10 days and there is a 2-4% chance of an inconclusive result.

A low risk result would be reassuring, reducing the risk of aneuploidy to approximately 1 in 10,000, while a high risk result should be confirmed with invasive testing.

Unfortunately, this is a private test and not yet on the Medicare Benefits schedule. The NIPT Percept costs $600 and includes an the NIPT/FTS blood collection. 

Other pathology can also be collected on the same day, including Antenatal Pathology and CMV screening.

Please contact SCC to make a booking for the NIPT collection:

02 6282 2033

At Specialist Care Centre, we can facilitate the collection of your VCGS Prepair, genetic carrier screening. No referral or request is needed, we handle everything for you!

Genetic carrier screening is a simple mouth saliva swab or Blood collection that is taken for you and your reproductive partner to find out if you are carriers for a genetic condition.

Having one faulty copy and one working copy of a gene is called being a carrier. Being a carrier usually does not affect your health.

Most people who are identified as a carrier have no family history of the condition

If you and your reproductive partner are both carriers for the same genetic condition, you usually have a 1 in 4 (25%) chance of having a child born with that condition

Knowing this information can be useful when starting a family

At SCC we handle everything for you, from the request and consent form, collection of the swab, handling and sending of the swab to VCGS and the processing and notifying of all results. There is a free genetic counselling service available to patients through VCGS for all high-risk results. All high-risk results will be followed up by one of our specialist Obstetricians.

There are 3 different tests for Prepair Genetic Carrier Screening to consider:

Prepair 3 is the standard screening test which looks at three common, inherited genetic conditions in our population: Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)

Prepair 500+ looks at over 500 genes, including genes for CF, FXS and SMA ($975 per couple)

Prepair 1000+ is the most comprehensive test that looks at over 1000 genes associated with more than 750 conditions, including CF, FXS and SMA ($1,500 per couple)

Prepair is a “once in a lifetime” test, meaning as long as you have not had this test performed before, the laboratory fees for the 3 standard tests are bulkbilled for those who are Medicare eligible. 

There is a small $50 admin and processing fee for each patient, payable at Specialist Care Centre at the time of collection.

Marita O'Shea has worked in Canberra for over 25 years. For the last 15 years she has been providing specialised physiotherapy treating women with pelvic floor dysfunction. She is passionate about educating women about the importance of good pelvic health throughout all the life stages.

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Marita has a postgraduate certificate in Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation and Continence and is passionate about providing women with the correct pelvic floor advice at all stages in their life.

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Marita has a strong background in musculoskeletal physiotherapy and is experienced in treating pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain, lower back pain and sacroiliac joint instability.

She uses real-time ultrasound to provide patients with feedback on pelvic floor muscles and lower abdominal muscle activation patterns and tailors exercise programs for her patients to suit their stage of life. 

Marita has a degree in both physiotherapy and exercise physiology and has worked in Canberra since 1996.

Marita sees patients at Specialist Services in Deakin where she works with specialist Gynaecologists.

SCC offers the services of Dr Nahal Payman, a specialist consultant paediatrician. Dr Nahal Payman is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians since 2011

Her areas of expertise include:

-General Paediatrics.

-Interest in Gastroenterology.

SCC offers the services of Dr Meredith Sissons, a specialist consultant paediatrician. Dr Meredith Sissons is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and a member the Neurodevelopmental and Behavioural Society of Australasia. 

Her areas of expertise include:

- Developmental delay

- Learning difficulties

- Intellectual disability

- Autism Spectrum Disorder

- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder