Government Hospitals

KING EDWARD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

‘King Eddies’

King Edward Memorial Hospital is Western Australia’s oldest and largest public maternity hospital and likely the most prolific of all the states owned forced adoption institutions.

KEMH was directly involved in the polices and practices of forced adoption for many decades, where mothers and newborns were intentionally seperated from each other at birth via the practice known as ‘the clean break’.

The hospital also operated a smaller ‘private’ facility at 91 Hensman street, known as the Kensington Annexe.

Newborns were also adopted directly from the KEMH nurseries, direct to adoptive parents.

Most WA country hospitals were also facilitating forced adoption practices, as recently as the late 1980’s.

If you were born, adopted from, gave birth at or received pre and post partum care at;

Any WA country hospital, KEMH, Osborne Park, Cottesloe Hospital or Woodside, the Kensington Annexe

request your records via the link below.

TIPS

Some records are held at a Belmont document warehouse, do request that a search is made of this facility.

If possible make a shared application with your mother/son/daughter, this may improve the volume of records you can obtain, owing to privacy laws.

Dissatisfied by your experience in any way please esculate your concerns to;

Consumer Liasion Service - WNHSCLS@health.wa.gov.au

If this pathway also fails we urge you to make an appointment with your local member for parliament.