Australian Private Midwives Association: MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative

Friday, July 29, 2011

MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative

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In 1996 the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) created the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI): 10 Steps to Mother-Friendly Hospitals. Although designed specifically for the U.S, the MFCI had global impact. In response to strong international pressure, the CIMS International Committee was formed with the goal of creating an international initiative that would be applicable in all countries and settings. It became the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO) in 2007. In collaboration with grass-roots representatives from every world region and an international Technical Advisory Group (consisting of representatives from WHO, UNICEF, ICM, FIGO, Lamaze International, and many others), IMBCO created the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative (IMBCI): 10 Steps to Optimal MotherBaby Maternity Services and launched it in 2008.

The purpose of the IMBCI is to call global attention to the importance of the quality of the mother’s birth experience and its impact on the outcome, the risks to mother and baby from inappropriate medical interventions and lack of access to appropriate emergency care, and the scientific evidence showing the benefits of optimal MotherBaby care based on the normal physiology of pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding. The IMBCI 10 Steps set the gold standard for excellence and superior outcomes in maternity care. The IMBCI has been translated into over 20 languages and is being put to many uses in the developed and developing worlds. Its 10 Steps are currently being implemented in 3 pilot/demonstration sites--hospitals in Quebec, Brazil, and Austria. This presentation will describe the IMBCI and the multiple ways in which it is being put to work around the world. A critical component of the IMBCI is that it highlights the fact that “women’s and children’s rights are human rights” and that “access to humane and effective health care is a basic human right.”

The Asia-Pacific Regional Representative of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization is midwife Rachael Austin, dnraustin[at]bigpond.com from Theodore, Queensland.

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WHO ARE WE?

The Australian Private Midwives Association represents midwives in private practice. The association is focused on the safety of women, the ability of women to access quality midwifery care across Australia and the partnerships between women and midwives. APMA supports women’s choice in maternity options within a framework of quality and safety and believes in women being able to access midwives in all settings. APMA unites all midwives seeking to provide continuity of care for women.

APMA strives to provide midwives in private practice with information relevant to their practice and advocacy in the political process.

Enquiries:
Joy Johnston joy@aitex.com.au
Marie Heath NSW and National 0407 266004
Clare Lane (Vic) 0416 130219

APMA POSITION STATEMENT on PLANNED HOME BIRTHS WITH A MIDWIFE

1. We support home birth with a midwife in attendance for women who have uncomplicated labours. 2. We support and adopt the International Confederation of Midwives’ (ICM) Definition of the Midwife (2011), which is foundational to all midwifery practice, including homebirth. 3. We support the right of every woman to access a midwife as the primary maternity caregiver who works in partnership with the woman throughout the episode of care, who is able to be the responsible professional in attendance at the birth either at home or hospital, and who is able to make appropriate referral and transfer of care when required. 4. We support the right of a midwife to practise privately in a fee-for-service or funded relationship with the client, or to take up employment. 5. We support only those regulatory restrictions that are able to pass the ‘public interest’ test: “How does this promote health and wellbeing in the mother and baby?” 6. We support an expectation of equity, including equal pay for equal work throughout a midwife’s scope of practice. Midwives who provide primary maternity care are entitled to the same public funding, the same opportunity to charge a fee-for-service, the same access to hospital referral, and publicly supported indemnity insurance, as medical practitioners providing the same maternity services. 7. We support processes by which midwives are able to gain experience and mentoring in order to commence and demonstrate competence in homebirth practice. 8. We support seamless and reliable processes by which midwives are able to make hospital bookings for women planning homebirth, and arrange transfer to the hospital in a timely way when needed.