Australian Private Midwives Association: National Maternity Services Plan Annual Report

Thursday, January 19, 2012

National Maternity Services Plan Annual Report

This report is only 9 pages long, and is worth reading. National Maternity Services Plan 2011 Annual Report

Barriers to implementation and mitigation

The introduction of MBS and PBS benefits for services provided by eligible midwives to provide greater access to maternity care provided by midwives working in collaboration with doctors has had a gradual take-up, as potentially eligible midwives seek to establish the collaborative arrangements required. The Commonwealth is monitoring collaborative arrangements under a framework agreed by the Minister for Health and Ageing which includes stakeholder consultation, collection of data on the management of enquiries, stakeholder surveys and analysis of MBS data. A survey of stakeholder experiences of collaborative arrangements is expected to be conducted by Healthcare Management Advisors (HMA) on behalf of the Department of Health and Ageing by late 2011 and again 12 months later. HMA will be contacting midwives and obstetricians to participate in the surveys. The evaluation of the Queensland Health pilot site for midwife credentialing will also provide information on the establishment of collaborative arrangements.

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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.