International Day of the Midwife
The aim of the day is to celebrate midwifery and to heighten awareness of the importance of midwives’ work to as many people as possible.
“We are proud to count as members, the people of this proud and noble profession”, says CRANAplus President, Christopher Cliffe. Midwifery is an essential part of remote health care and is prominent among the issues that our organisation is advocating for. “We want all women to have access to a skilled maternity care provider, regardless of where they live and that safe options should be developed for women who choose to have uncomplicated births where they reside, including remote areas.” says Mr Cliffe. CRANAplus is also advocating for nurse practitioners and eligible midwives to have uninhibited access to MBS and their clients to have access to PBS, ensuring that these roles are viable alternatives for clients accessing health care in Australia.
Many Australians get to make a choice about when where and who will assist in the delivery of their children. Women in remote regions, many of which are Aboriginal and/or Torres Straight Islander, don’t have the luxury of choice. CRANAplus recognises the limited services available to many remote clients and strives to support remote midwives professionally through continuing education and access to the Bush Support Line.
Five years ago, CRANAplus launched the Maternity Emergency Care (MEC) training course that teaches nurses and other practitioners, who aren’t midwives, the basic maternity care that is sometimes required when working in a remote or isolated setting. This year an advanced course for midwives has been added to the lineup. Midwifery Up Skilling (MIDUS) provides an overview of current practice in antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care, with an emphasis on care in the remote or isolated setting.
These courses are having a positive impact in remote communities according to MEC facilitator and experienced midwife, Glenda Gleeson, “I have noticed that after remote area nurses or Aboriginal health workers attend a MEC course, women in their community are more likely to utilise their services. The advanced training increases the confidence of these practitioners and improves the level of care they can offer. After attending a course they know they can contact me or any of the facilitators if they have any questions or concerns.”
CRANAplus is dedicated to the development and delivery of safe, high quality primary healthcare to remote and isolated areas of Australia through the education and support of remote health practitioners and advocacy for the issues affecting them and the people in their care.
Contact:
Carole Taylor CEO (08) 8959 1111