Australian College of Midwives WA Branch

Multidisciplinary Health Symposium "Care of the Diabetic Patient"

2011-09-27T20:23:00.000+08:00

Dear Midwife/Nursing colleague,UWA is delighted to be hosting a new, exciting Multidisciplinary Health Symposium on Saturday the 22nd October at the UWA Club. This inaugural event has support from Kim Snowball, Director General of the Health Department who is opening the symposium.The topic ‘Care of the Diabetic Patient’ will include presentations from experts across the spectrum of health professions.This event represents a great opportunity to understand total patient management from all perspectives and strengthen collaboration and develop referral pathways between health care providers. For details about the program and registration or go to:www.biomedchem.uwa.edu.au/cpd/programThis program is eligible AHPRA CPD credits.Yours sincerely,Lesley GregoryAssistant ProfessorUWA CPD Health Program CoordinatorThe University of Western AustraliaM315,35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009UWA CPD Health Quality Education: Quality Outcomes

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ACM Homebirth (interim) Position Statement;

2011-08-08T11:02:00.010+08:00

Dear Members,

Please take the time to read and comment on the ACM's interim Homebirth position statement and guidance for privately practicing midwives;

Interim Position Statement on Homebirth

Interim Guidance for privately practising midwives providing midwifery care for a planned homebirth

ACM has requested comment on both the interim position statement and the interim guidance for privately practising midwives by close of business 23rd September 2011.

Send submissions by email to info@midwives.org.au or by post to PO Box 87, Deakin West ACT 2600. Only submissions with identified senders and a return address will be considered.

Homebirth Indemnity insurance exemption extened.

2011-08-05T22:42:00.002+08:00

Great news:
Professional Indemnity Insurance Exemption for Independent Privately Practising Midwives
A communique issued by the Australian Health Minister's Council today announced that they have agreed to a further 12 month extension of the exemption to 1 July 2013 while further options are explored with a report back to the next Health Ministers meeting.
For more details click here for the Department of Health and Ageing

General Meeting for all members of the WA ACM

2011-07-13T11:52:00.004+08:00

Members of the Australian College of Midwives WA Branch are invited to attend a

General Meeting

Thursday 21st July 2011
Agnes Walsh House Lounge
1600 – 1700

RSVP: acmwabranch@gmail.com (for catering purposes please)

to vote for the Australian College of Midwives WA Branch Constitution

Come along and network and discuss the new constitution

The Executive Committee WA Branch

IMD Conference 2011: Home and Away

2011-04-19T20:22:00.008+08:00

Come and join the WA ACM in celebrating International Midwives Day:

Friday 6th May 2011: 0830:1630 CITY WEST FUNCTION CENTRE: 45 PLAISTOWE MEWS: CITY WEST, WEST PERTH

Share in the experiences and challenges for midwives who care for pregnant and childbearing women in both local and developing world contexts. Gain insight into the setting up of a Midwifery Group Practice from the first Eligible Western Australian Midwife.

Finish the day networking with friends and colleagues at the sundowner enjoying drinks and nibbles.

Midwifery care of adolescent pregnant women: Australia vs South Africa - Marie Spearing, Deb Ireson, Ravani Duggan

Midwifery care in Sierra Leone - Brooke Jones

Trauma and torture - Renay Grech

National Update - ACM President Tracy Martin

The journey to become an Eligible Midwife- Pauline Costins

Setting up a group practice - Centred Midwifery Group Practice Inc midwives

REGISTRATION 08.30 - 09.00
Registration includes refreshments & lunch
Sundowner drinks and nibbles 16.30 - 17.30
Free parking all day

REGISTRATIONS CLOSE
3RD MAY 2011

EnquirIes: Elizabeth Ashton: Liz.Ashton@health.wa.gov.au

To Register
www.midwives.org.au
ACM NATIONAL OFFICE
(02) 6230 7333 1300 360 480 (free call)
Email: members@midwives.org.au

FULL DAY COST (GST INCLUSIVE)
MEMBERS $100 / NON -MEMBERS $120
STUDENTS $70 / GROUP BOOKING
(4 OR MORE ) DISCOUNT $10 PP
ACM CPD points apply
*Program subject to change

Film Night: Babies: 5th May 2011

2011-04-06T15:47:00.005+08:00

We are celebrating International Day of the Midwife: This is a private viewing for midwives: Come and join us at the Windsor 98 Stirling Highway Nedlands May 5th 2011 to watch:

The adventure of a lifetime begins…

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomas Balmès, from an original idea by producer Alain Chabat, Babies simultaneously follows four babies around the world – from birth to first steps. The children are, respectively, in order of on-screen introduction: Ponijao, who lives with her family near Opuwo, Namibia; Bayarjargal, who resides with his family in Mongolia, near Bayanchandmani; Mari, who lives with her family in Tokyo, Japan; and Hattie, who resides with her family in the United States, in San Francisco.
Re-defining the nonfiction art form, Babies joyfully captures on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all.

View the trailer at:
www.focusfeatures.com/babies

Send us an email acmwabranch@gmail.com and let us know if you would like to purchase tickets: Cost:$15.00

To transfer directly into WA ACM Bank please use your surname & initial as a reference point; BSB 086 509 & Account number: 01516 6014 and then email us acmwabranch@gmail.com the receipt number to confirm the deposit of your funds.

Hope to see you all there..... cheers Pauline

Please comment on the Homebirth Policy for WA

2011-03-30T19:57:00.001+08:00

The Women's and Newborns' Health Network is seeking comments on a draft Home Birth Policy and Guidance for Health Professionals, Health Services and Consumers. The Review of homebirths in Western Australia released in August 2008 made recommendations for conducting home births in WA which have been incorporated into this Policy.

The Policy will be applicable to qualified health professionals (i.e. registered midwives and/or medical practitioners) working in the Western Australian public health system when caring for women who make an informed choice to give birth at home.

Please send an email to healthpolicy@health.wa.gov.au to request a copy of the Policy and a Feedback Form. The deadline for comments is 31 March 2011. Date has been extended to Friday 8 April.... please send in your comments:

Kind regards

Dr Janet Hornbuckle and Assoc Prof Graeme Boardley
Co-Leads, Women's and Newborns' Health Network

Some rules for Facebook:

2011-03-19T00:01:00.005+08:00

This is a timely reminder about the importance of confidentiality and professional conduct when using Facebook (FB)considering approximately 54% of Australians use this social medium.

After doing a web search regarding some legal issues on FB... I have come up with a list of rules that might help you keep out of trouble in the work place or anywhere else relating to FB.

Rule 1: really consider carefully who you are letting into your FB as a ‘friend’, if you allow mangers, work colleagues/associates this means you let your work into your private life. Ensure you have a closed privacy setting.

Rule 2: Do not mention anything to do with your work place no matter how insignificant you think it is... if you can be connected to your work by your comment you probably break the golden rules of ‘confidentially’ and ‘Code of Conduct’.

Rule 3: Be mindful of the photos of yourself you allow on FB, these photos become the property of FB and if you are acting in an unbecoming manner this could come back to bite you later. Don’t allow people to take your photo without asking you and letting you know if it is going on FB.

Rule 4: Do not write on FB when you are angry or under the influence of alcohol once the information is in cyber space it stays there: Internet Defamation is the fastest growing litigation ....so don’t write anything derogatory about anyone.

Rule 5: People seem to believe what you do outside of work does not affect your work life....WRONG....this is dependent on what it is and if you have you bought your profession/company/school into disrepute? Just think of our footballers .....there is a prime example of unbecoming behaviour.

Rule 6: Social responsibility: this is like a duty of care to society, a reciprocal duty: we owe society and society owes us a mutually beneficial obligation. Be kind to each other.

The bottom line for FB is be careful who you invite in your world, don’t talk about work, don’t say anything derogatory and be mindful of the photos you let FB have:Respect privacy:

Happy Facebooking!!!!!!!

WA Homebirth Policy open for public consultation... be pro-active: please review

2011-03-14T19:12:00.006+08:00

Message for distribution via ACM WA blog:

Time to be pro active, have you say about how policies are written.... email healthpolicy@health.wa.gov.au for your copy of the Homebirth policy and give some feedback all feed back is welcome:

The Women's and Newborns' Health Network is seeking comments on a draft Home Birth Policy and Guidance for Health Professionals, Health Services and Consumers. The Review of homebirths in Western Australia released in August 2008 made recommendations for conducting home births in WA which have been incorporated into this Policy.

The Policy will be applicable to qualified health professionals (i.e. registered midwives and/or medical practitioners) working in the Western Australian public health system when caring for women who make an informed choice to give birth at home.

Please send an email to healthpolicy@health.wa.gov.au to request a copy of the Policy and a Feedback Form. The deadline for comments is 31 March 2011.

Kind regards

Dr Janet Hornbuckle and Assoc Prof Graeme Boardley
Co-Leads, Women's and Newborns' Health Network

WA Branch Executive Committee 2011

2011-03-12T20:35:00.006+08:00

WA ACM Branch President Ms Terri Barrett:

Dear Members,

I am sorry for the delay in posting this information on the blog. I have been trying to play catch up with the posts:

Current WA Branch Positions are as follows:
President- Terri Barrett:
Vice President- Pauline Costins:
National Director- Tracy Martin:
Secretary- Laura Robertson:
Treasurer- Sylvia Jenkin:
Education Officer- Liz Ashton:
Minute secretary- Trish Dempsey:
Merchandise / Publicity- Carli Beange:
Community Rep- Sara Bayes:
General committee members- Liza Kennedy & Sue Cudlipp:
Consumer Rep- Shelley Gower:
MESAC rep- Janice Butt:
Student reps from ECU & Curtin Universities:
Education subcommittee- Carol Pinch & Judith Wilson:

Please feel free to contact the executive committee with any of your questions or if you require professional support: acmwabranch@gmail.com

WA congratulate Tracy Martin as the National President of the College and Terri Barrett as the WA President:

These are exciting times for midwifery and especially for WA with our own Director in the National President position.

With the National Maternity Plan signed off by the Federal Minister for Health in November last year, the jurisdictions are now looking to the implementation phase. The ACM WA Branch Executive Committee is committed to informing and supporting members on matters related to the maternity reform agenda.

At a local level the Executive Committee has recently undertaken their annual planning and will focus on increasing our membership, improving the services the Branch provides and ensuring that governance processes are transparent and robust. This will include the development of a ACM WA Branch specific Constitution. The Committee welcomes your input and we hope to see you at our International Midwife Day celebration: Terri Barrett WA President

Please once again don't hesitate to contact us if you want a chat, post something on the blog, have any idea's you want to share, or any education sessions you would like: email us on acmwabranch@gmail.com

Thanks for your time
Pauline

President’s Report – WA Branch 24th February 2011

2011-03-12T20:00:00.006+08:00

This will be my last report as President of the ACM WA branch, at this point in time. Issues within the National Office have led me in another direction and as a result I have stepped down as President to take up the role as National Director for WA – replacing Pauline Costins. My term for this role will expire in November 2012. Terri Barrett has stepped in as President effective 11th February and Pauline Costins has taken up the Vice President position. WA is in good hands.
On the 8th January 2011, we had the WA Branch Strategic Planning Day, which was hosted by Dame Monica Holmes OAM. She guided us through what our strategic direction would be for the next 12 – 24 months. Keeping in line with National Strategic Plan for 2015 which include five strategic priorities:-
Advocacy for Midwives and Midwifery
Supporting midwives
Setting Professional Practice and Education Standards
Ensuring Access to Continuity of midwifery Care
Ensuring Good Governance.

We identified four key areas:
Governance
Membership
Education and Research and Public Relations.
These goals will form the framework for the WA Branch’s activity over the next few months.

Some of the strategies we will be looking at include engaging midwifery managers – they are the role models, looking at ways of engaging students and conducting a satisfaction survey. We will be inviting the Professor of Midwifery Yvonne Hauck to be part of the Executive Committee and broaden our research focus.
We will be looking at our constitution, which is timely given that the National constitution needs to be reviewed. We are improving governance around the financial management of the branch and reviewing role statements. A new MOU has been drawn up, for our continued use of the facilities at KEMH.
We will be developing a website and a calendar of events. We are well on the way for the planning for both our big functions – IMD celebrations and Conference and AGM. The year has started well and I look forward to being a part of WA’s direction.

Tracy Martin
Ex President WA Branch

President ACM

Strategic Planning Day:

2011-03-12T19:10:00.005+08:00

On the 8th January 2011, we had the WA Branch Strategic Planning Day, which was hosted by Dame Monica Holmes OAM.
The WA Branch achieved many things over the last year, when we sat together and evaluated last years strategic plan we had achieved 90% of the plan, which was excellent: Highlights of the year included:
20% increase in local membership
Road show informing members of legislative changes / maternity reforms
Hospital site visits to increase College visibility and disseminate information
2 Major education sessions
Politically lobbing
Social Media - Facebook page and blog site
Support Go-Girl Australia

Time for a break a cuppa:

Monica guided us through what our strategic direction would be for the next 12 – 24 months. Keeping in line with National Strategic Plan for 2015 which include five strategic priorities:-
Advocacy for Midwives and Midwifery
Supporting midwives
Setting Professional Practice and Education Standards
Ensuring Access to Continuity of midwifery Care
Ensuring Good Governance.
We identified four key areas:
Governance
Membership
Education and Research and Public Relations.
These goals will form the framework for the WA Branch’s activity over the next few months.

The end of the day; time to shave a drink and have a laugh....

A Festschrift to celebrate the careers of two remarkable women:

2011-02-19T23:07:00.001+08:00

I was privileged today to find myself sitting amongst many wonderful people and some great academics, I heard many wonderful stories of two amazing women who have had diverse and awe-inspiring careers which has had tremendous impact on the midwifery profession and will do for many years to come, Pat Brodie & Nicky Leap.

Until today I did not know what a “Festchrift” was, I meant to look it up on the internet….but just did not get round to it…. So was relieved today when I heard lots of people had no idea what it was…..and that it actually means “a living book of your life” a celebration of your career by others on the occasion of retirement, what a fantastic idea, just brilliant….. Someone likened it to being at your own funeral, except you are there to enjoy it….. but then Pat said it would be a very long funeral” ….. to me it really is a bit like “this is your life”.

There was opportunity for great networking….. Too many wonderful people to name them all …. Besides you all know who you all are…great to see you and have a chat…. The energy and inspiration goes a long way to maintaining your enthusiasm for when you get home… and need to carry on the task of change and ensuring women have choice and midwifery care…….

For me it was an inspirational day, the room was filled with liveliness….. my soul was rejoicing at the many possibilities for midwifery…..if only we had this sort of leadership everywhere in Australia….some places are truly isolated and continue to have an uphill battle…..we need to spread the talent….

Key take home messages that resonated for me ……

“Square peg in around hole” - midwives
“The less you do the more you give” – care in labour
“Every woman needs a midwife and sometimes a doctor too” - collaboration
“Community based continuity of care for all risk categories of women” – private practice
“The key is good collaboration”
“Morbidity of women during childbirth is only going to increase due to repeat caesarean sections and the obesity crisis…..” – Obstetrician
“Midwives are essential for primary care”
“Address the equalities of women and birth”
"From little things big things grow - Group practice

A truely wonderful time in Sydney..... the only downside was that I didn't stay an extra day or two do some shopping.....not that I have money for shopping...lol

Safety and Quality Framework for Privately Practising Midwives attending homebirths:

2011-02-14T13:32:00.005+08:00

The Safety and Quality Framework for Privately Practising Midwives is up on the AHPRA website..... click her to read whole framework;

IMPORTANT CLAUSE:

284 Exemption from requirement for professional indemnity insurance arrangements for midwives practising private midwifery
(1) During the transition period, a midwife does not contravene section 129(1) merely because the midwife practises private midwifery if—
(a) the practise occurs in a participating jurisdiction in which, immediately before the participation day for that jurisdiction, a person was not prohibited from attending homebirths in the course of practising midwifery unless professional indemnity insurance arrangements were in place; and
(b) informed consent has been given by the woman in relation to whom the midwife is practising private midwifery; and
(c) the midwife complies with any requirements set out in a code or guideline approved by the National Board under section 39 about the practise of private midwifery, including—
(i) any requirement in a code or guideline about reports to be provided by midwives practising private midwifery; and
(ii) any requirement in a code or guideline relating to the safety and quality of the practise of private midwifery

(2) A midwife who practises private midwifery under this section is not required to include in an annual statement under section 109 a declaration required by subsection (1)(a)(iv) and (v) of that section in relation to the midwife’s practise of private midwifery during a period of registration that is within the transition period.
(3) For the purposes of this section, the transition period—
(a) starts on 1 July 2010; and
(b) ends on the prescribed day.

The framework is to ensure safe high quality of care of th woman and her baby when choosing homecare by a private practising midwife;
It is good to see that the ACM Consultation and Referral Guidelines and the prinicpoes and practices in the NHMRC document are also key elements in this framework.

Resignation as WA Board Director

2011-01-31T11:58:00.003+08:00

The ACM vision........... is to be the leading organisation shaping Australian maternity care for the benefit of women and their families
The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) is the peak professional body for Australian midwives, which strives to maximize the quality of midwifery and maternity care for Australian women and their families through:
• Providing a unified voice for the midwifery profession.
• Supporting midwives to reach their full potential.
• Ensuring all childbearing women have access to continuity of care by a known midwife.
• Setting professional practice and education standards

I believe in the above vision that is why I was both delighted and honoured to be elected the WA Board Director, unfortunately for me the position has only lasted l2mths and it was a challenging year. I spent the first few meetings finding my feet and dealing with the personalities of everyone on the Board as well as assessing the current political situation. I met some phenomenal women on the Board... and everyone works with what they consider is the “best interest” of the ACM.

I feel that WA is in a unique position that we do not have some of the issues faced by our counterparts in the Eastern States. It saddens me to say that I have resigned (December 2010). I am bound by confidentiality of the Board and therefore I cannot divulge the reasons why I resigned except to say that the situation was untenable and I have the support of the whole WA executive committee. This has not been an easy decision it was painstakingly difficult. The decision was made in the best interest of the ACM and its membership.

I continue to support and believe in the ACM Nationally. I will continue to put all my energy into the WA Branch to encourage its growth, support the membership and foster collegial and political relationships to further the profession of midwifery in WA and one day I will return to the National Board. The ACM works to support all midwives, ensuring that childbearing women have access to continuity of midwifery care.
I do believe as a profession we need a strong national body to represent all midwives, a body that is respected and accepted by all midwives to take us forward into the 21st century and I believe that the ACM can deliver this.

Regards your servant Pauline Costins

WA Branch AGM: November 2010

2011-01-20T22:42:00.003+08:00

Dear Members, my sincere apologies for reporting so late on the WA ACM AGM. November and December have been extremely busy for me and I have only now caught up with myself. I have quite a few stories to write to keep you updated, so will start in chronological order from the AGM.

As you all remember the AGM was 12th November combined with our yearly conference, this strategy of a yearly conference with a set date has proven to be successful and City West seems to be a great hit with all our members. The WA Branch has experienced a 20% growth in the last year, that is just fantastic and a special thank you to all the student midwives who make up a good percentage of the growth, as you are our future.....and we welcome your input to the College.

WA Branch of the ACM is growing in membership and continues to support its members and has a strong executive team working together for the members of WA. Congratulations to the new members of the executive committee; Liz Ashton, Carol Pinch, Sara Bayes, Liza Kennedy and Judith Wilson.

President Tracy Martin, Vice President Terri Barrett, Treasurer; Sylvia Jenkin, Secretary; Laura Robertson; WA National Director Pauline Costins, Minute secretary Trish Dempsey, Education Standards Janice Butt; Publicity & Merchandise Carli Beange; Aboriginal rep; Karen Kruit; Education Officer Liz Ashton, Education Committee – Carol Pinch, Judith Wilson, Sara Bayes; General committee: Liza Kennedy, Abbey Rodda, Sue Cudlip.

Ms Tracy Martin WA President opened the day, inspiring all who were present; It was a diverse program and as usual the presenters were of a great calibre; they included; Dianne Bond – Diabetes Service, Sadie Geraghty - Vitamin D; Renate McLaurin - Cannabis use and Pregnancy; Mother & baby unit – State-wide Mental Health unit; Debbie Slatter and Lesley Kuliukas – Childbirth Education, there were several other presentations..... All excellent. Everyone seemed to enjoy the day..... the food as usual was brilliant and plenty of it... we ended the day with a sundowner.... a grand way to finish off the day with a glass of red wine.....

A thank you goes to all the sponsors whose generous contributions made this event possible: St John of God Hospital Subiaco & Murdoch, Police and Nurses Credit Society; ACM WA Branch, WELDA & Cell Care; and a big thank you to all who attended the day and made it the success it was..... see you all next year.

Cheers Pauline

PS pictures coming.....

A year in reflection:

2010-12-29T23:31:00.018+08:00

A reminder of the College Vision:

Our vision is to be the leading organisation shaping Australian maternity care for the benefit of women and their families
The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) is the peak professional body for Australian midwives, which strives to maximize the quality of midwifery and maternity care for Australian women and their families through:
• Providing a unified voice for the midwifery profession.
• Supporting midwives to reach their full potential.
• Ensuring all childbearing women have access to continuity of care by a known midwife.
• Setting professional practice and education standards

This has been an amazing year with many highs and lows.... everyone working hard for the College and the greater good ..... above all working to improve the choice for childbearing women and the midwives who work with women.

As I summarise the year from the blog entries I am in two minds as to how well we have done over the year....If I examine the word "well", skilfully, expertly, effectively, efficiently, adequately, admirably, conscientiously and proficiently - then I think as a Branch we have achieved this.... however as I read between the lines there has been some misfortune for me personally: as you can imagine writing a blog for the College I have to be mindful of confidentiality, defamation, ethics, conduct and my own professional standing....there is no such thing as freedom of speech.... however still offering news, honesty, general information etc.... therefore I have to be mindful of what is published.

I have to say that this rule has not been applied to myself and I am in the process of taking legal action against information wrongly published about me threatening my integrity and professional standing... this is a sad reflection of the times and soul destroying. Therefore this is a timely reminder to be mindful of what you publish on the Internet & email...... defamation is the fastest growing litigation....

The blog to date has had over 4500 hits...the blog posts have almost doubled and is up to date with current issues:

January was meeting the then Prime Minister & the Honorable Nicola Roxon, the Big Picture tour of the proposed changes for midwives; Februry.... new midwifery students and Homebirth rallies..... March... GoGirlAustralia... April.... ANMC here to stay as the "appointed accreditation body"... submissions for the "eligible midwife"... May... IMD celebrations...24hr Virtual IMD ..... and the farewell to Jill Banks....June... came the insurance debate, options and collaboration...July was D-Day for National Registration....and Collaborative arrangements... Determination 2010; concern for private practice, fear, stress, tears, it was a nightmare....

August...Australian Election....the nightmare continues; a hung Parliament... Homebirth...Collaborative arrangements...ACM National meeting & Breathing New life Conference Alice Springs....Sept... Determination still dominated the midwifery world... lobbying, emails...meetings with politicians...etc... GoGirlAustralia leaves Fremantle.....

October.. WA joins National Registration... APHRA comes alive for us.... Victorian conference and AGM also AGM for National.... November... History is made... Medicare Provider Numbers for eligible midwives..to date there are approximately 15 eligible midwives throughout Australia...December... first Midwife to get collaborative agreement.... lets hope this continues....
Trail Blazers, the inaugural Bachelor of Midwifery for WA prepares to enter the workforce as Midwives (who are not nurses), Barb Vernon EO of the ACM resigns and change is in the air..... i have always said as a College we need to be united... "united we stand divided we fall" I am going to pinch a quote from Obama's State Union address " we face big and difficult challenges, we do not give up, we do not quit. We do not allow our fear or division to break our spirit".

Xmas dinner
Thank you to a wonderful executive team we have in WA.... the whole team has worked very hard and continue to work hard for the WA members and women of the State....wishing you all a happy and successful 2011.

My wish for the College & the year ahead:

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."~ Andrew Carnegie

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." Henry Ford

signing of for 2010, see you in the New Year, wishing you all a safe, happy, successful 2011. Pauline Costins

Guinea Pigs or Trail Blazers

2010-12-28T11:10:00.006+08:00

When I was asked to write something for the ACM blog about the experience of being the first BMid students to get through their training in WA, I realised how difficult it was going to be to sum up the gamut of emotions, the roller coaster ride that my fellow BMidder’s and myself have been on the last 3 years.

We are a diverse bunch of women, some young, some not as young, we have children, husbands, careers, boyfriends, and jobs outside our training to be midwives. Yet I think it is safe to say that for three years we have lived, breathed, eaten, dreamed, hated, loved, and despaired over nothing else but midwifery. Midwifery has been centre stage.

We are the guinea pigs. How often have we heard this girls? The initial reaction to us in some places was palpable. We were told we could not make good midwives (because we are not nurses), that we would not be employed (because we are not nurses), that we would not be able to give certain medications (because we are not nurses). We did wonder at times, if we would be able to do anything at all..........as midwives.

Despite these frustration’s, and thanks to the tenacity and support of amazing and wonderful women: Jenny Wood, Lesley Kuliukas, Janice Butt and our tutors, we marched on because we knew deep down inside that it is midwives we want to be, NOT nurses.

As a group we feel very lucky to have experienced many models of care. We were able to see home birth and family birth centre births. We watched women make informed choices about their care and become empowered in women centred models of care. We experienced continuity of care and developed an appreciation of how continuity of care is the gold standard in maternity care.

We were privileged to develop relationships with many women, and care for them during their pregnancy, labour, birth and beyond. We have been “with woman” for a diverse group of women: women with mental illness, women who are still teenagers, women from remote Aboriginal communities, refugee and migrant women, single and married women, women addicted to substances, diabetic and healthy, free and incarcerated, public and private. We are coloured by these experiences.

We have had three years to soak up the political environment. I am not sure any of us realised JUST how political midwifery and healthcare could be. We are now well informed of this fact and have consented to being a part of the debate. The same debate as always; how do we work together with other health professionals and how do we respect women’s choices.

There are 17 students in my graduating class, and through our trials and tribulations we have leaned on one another for support and friendship. We are grateful that we have had one another and will continue to support each another as we work as midwives. We are also grateful to the hospitals that have provided clinical placements and the midwives who have had the patience to take us under their wings.

So now that we are heading down the birth canal, there is a lot of stretching, and discomfort, a little bit of fear of what it means to be completely responsible for our actions as registered midwives. We have come a long way, and the learning is only just about to start. Most importantly, we have realised (and we hope everybody else does too) that, we are not guinea pigs, we are trail blazers and we are very proud to be moving the profession of midwifery forward.

Don't forget WA Midwives & Nurses need to renew your registration:

2010-12-21T13:59:00.004+08:00

WA Registrations are now due: don't forget!

Amid the rush and excitement of Christmas, please do not forget to renew your registration with AHPRA - (on-line registration) due for most 31st December; it will cost you $48.00 to renew until May due to the change over dates of National Registration:

You need to renew both Midwifery and Nursing - or choose one or the other it is your choice as there are now two registers; remember what you are contracted to work before dropping off any of the registers:

The process is easy online or go into the AHPRA office in Hay St Subiaco WA:

Have a safe and Happy Festive Season:

A farewell tribute to Barb Vernon

2010-12-20T18:11:00.014+08:00

Midwife means ‘with woman’. This meaning shapes midwifery’s philosophy, work and relationships........recognises every woman’s right to self-determination in attaining choice, control and continuity of care from one or more known caregivers...

The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) is the peak professional body for Australian midwives, which strives to maximize the quality of midwifery and maternity care for Australian women and their families through:
• Providing a unified voice for the midwifery profession.
• Supporting midwives to reach their full potential.
• Ensuring all childbearing women have access to continuity of care by a known midwife.
• Setting professional practice and education standards

I remember meeting Barb Vernon at the WA conference in 2003; this was around the time that Barb started off as the Executive Office for the College. I have always found Barb to be engaging, passionate and her focus was always to take the College to great heights; She has taught me the benefits of being politically savvy and most importantly being a quiet but forceful lobbyer; I regret having less than 10 months as a Board Director to learn from this phenomenal woman. I will not spend my time saying how amazing I thought Barb was, we all know that, and yes we all have our short comings, none of us are perfect, least of all me, however Barbs achievements speaks volumes.....and here creditability is without question.

It is remarkable what Barb has done for women, midwives and midwifery of Australia and where she has taken the College too in the last 7.5 years.... if you mention her name it is synonymous with the ACM: I can’t count the number of times I have heard people say “Barb Vernon, yes a very articulate and intelligent woman” “you’re lucky to have her” and they are correct.

Barb has always put her heart and soul into everything she has done for the College... her major achievements is as follows: (and I have not listed them all).
Medicare funding, provision of PBS and prescribing rights for midwives, national standards for entry to midwifery, establishment of separate, national professional standards for midwifery, separate register for midwives in the new national registration recognising midwifery in its own right, the development of the Midwifery Practice Review, MidPLUS, online CPD and portfolios, the development of an internationally recognised peer review journal for midwives, the list is endless;

For me what Barb has done most is establish mutually respectful and collaborative relationships with key national health organisations, such as, Australian Nursing Federation, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, the National Rural Health Alliance and many others...... She has forged a way forward politically, established good working relationships..... with Health Ministers etc. The college has had phenomenal growth to date; excellent collegial relationships with major stake holders expanded the College activities and services to members for the future and good political ties, the College is at the table for discussions and this is due to Barbs excellent political and lobbying skills.

There does come a time to say goodbye, when you have done all you can and for someone else to come along and take the college the next step, sadly that time has come for us. I bid Barb Vernon a fond good bye and wish her every success in life; and say the ACM & women owe her a multitude of thanks – we went part of the way in thanking her when we celebrated Barb’s achievements at a farewell in Canberra last week.

I am going to leave you with one of my favourite sayings Barb; an Irish Blessing (A Blessing from St. Patrick)

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

(Traditional Irish Blessing; origin unknown,
although some attribute it to St. Patrick.)

THANK YOU: THANK YOU: THANK YOU: THANK YOU: THANK YOU:

A Directors responsibility under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act)

2010-12-16T15:39:00.007+08:00

The Australian College of Midwives is an incorporation therefore falls under the rules and regulations of the Corporations Act (Cth) and the statue of limitation is 6 years, therefore a responsible position.
By law a Board Director is responsible for: The following information comes from Directors Duties under the Corporations Act 2001

Duty to act with care and diligence - s180(1)
A director or other officer must exercise their duties with a degree of care and diligence that a reasonable person would exercise in their position. The standard of care and diligence required as determined by a court would take into consideration the company's circumstances and the director or officers position within the company. The skill required by an executive director is measured objectively in regard to that directors' special calling. So, in considering whether a director is so negligent as to be in breach of the statutory duty, the conduct is measured in two ways: against the (objective) standard of care; and against the standard of skill held by the particular director or officer.

Duty to exercise powers in good faith – s181(1) (Conflict of duties)
A director or other officer of a corporation must exercise their powers and discharge their duties: in good faith in the best interests of the corporation; and for a proper purpose.

Duty not to improperly use position - s182 (Duty not to profit from position)
A director, secretary, other officer or employee of a corporation must not improperly use their position to: gain an advantage for themselves or someone else; or cause detriment to the corporation.

Duty not to fetter discretion's Directors have certain discretion's conferred on them by law and the company's constitution. When exercising such discretion's the directors are subject to two duties, namely: a duty to retain discretion; and duty to give adequate consideration.

Directors must exercise active discretion, they cannot ignore issues or blindly rely on another person. They must give adequate consideration when purporting to exercise a particular discretion.

Material personal interest - director's duty to disclose - Section 191
s191 requires a director who has material personal interest in a matter that relates to the affairs of the company to give the other directors notice of this interest. s191(2) outlines the exceptions to this requirement to provide notice.

The notice must give details of the nature and extent of the interest and the relation of the interest to the affairs of the company and be provided at a directors' meeting as soon as practicable after the director becomes aware of their interest. The details must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

Failure to disclose a material personal interest according to s191(4) does not invalidate a resolution by the directors at first instance. It has been held that the threshold for determining whether an interest is material is quite low however this contrasts with Magellan v Mount King Mining NL where the Western Australian Supreme Court stated that the nature of the interest ``should have the capacity to influence the vote of the particular director upon the decision to be made, bearing in mind that the conflict of interest must be of a real or substantial kind''.

Therefore it is considered appropriate to declare even minor conflicts of interest where there is a potential for conflict so as to err on the side of caution.

s192 of the Act provides that a director may give other directors standing notice about an interest. The notice may be given at any time and whether or not the matter relates to the affairs of the Company at the time the notice is given.

This is worth reading and taking note if you are a Board Director........

In the best interest

2010-12-15T23:14:00.004+08:00

This blog is not meant to reflect any one person or persons: it is pondering on the phrase “In the best interest”: what does this really mean? when it comes to law and ethics there are two very different meanings, traditionally when we refer to children you might consider that parents and doctors talk about “in the best interest” it means what is considered to be best for the child...not what is best for the adult, there are times when both the doctor and the parents do not agree as to what is in the child’s best interest. “Best interests” is the doctrine used by most courts to determine a wide range of issues relating to the well-being of children.

My discussion today is about “in the best interest for the College” – now we are looking at “best interest” from a different perspective: you are looking at a philosophy, an organisation and the people within that organisation: 8 people on a Board an EO, office support staff and the membership & stakeholders: Without the membership nothing else exists:

Defintion of “Best Interest” Authority delegated for taking any action or step the delegatee thinks to be the most advantageous to the organization, under the circumstances. This power is conferred usually where it is impossible to anticipate every eventuality, or where the need for rapid decisions or quick response is critical. It is normally given for a short period, or until the time adequate information is available to formulate specific directions or guidelines.

Just to explain some general governance processes of a board for those who may not be familiar with this process: Usually an organisation will have a Constitution Governance Charter (which sets out the ground rules and job descriptions)and several other polices: The board directors are the strategic thinkers they set future goals and represent the college on the National & political front; The directors are selected by the State Membership, this does not mean that the State Board director is responsible to the state they are the National Board director from each state and territory looking after the best interest of the National College: the board director may choose to report back to the State branch to keep them informed about National issues: Therefore the National College has 8 board directors: from this the office bearers are elected the; College President, Vice President and Treasurer; All the directors are volunteers, this is an unpaid position, done as a professional duty to further the profession.

The executive officer is a salaried position; appointed via advertisement and a panel interview: The EO is responsible for carrying out the strategic plans that the board develops: and managing the office staff to carry out the work required in assisting the membership etc the day to day minutia that is required of an organisation of a 5500 membership; The board directors do not venture into the realm of the EO, that is the day to day running of the college.

In order for an organisation to function well you have to have a president and an EO that can work together and a board that is united in philosophy – they do not have to necessarily see eye to eye but they have to know how to agree to disagree and come to reasoned decisions, the ability to argue respectfully, have insight to their behaviour and most importantly have integrity. You have to leave your own agenda at the door, because the focus is “in the best interest of the College” that is for all 5500 members not just certain sectors of the membership. Confidentiality is a vital component to any board, mutual respect and good governance. Once on the board it is a National board, no state or territory exists, however this does not stop factions, such as state biases, homebirth etc

If directors come to the table with different agendas and ego’s the ability to have insight is difficult and decisions are clouded by the comment “in the best interest” my question is whose “best interest” are they truly serving? When you have powerful people in the room you are bound to get explosions, what is required is reasoned arguments, powers of persuasion without bullying and mutual respect.... once respect is gone there is a breakdown in communication because there is a tug of war about “the best interest” this is blatantly clear because there is a breakdown of respect and the factions then take over or the personal loyalties to people rather than “the best interest of the College” and then the battle begins.

The other over powering conflict that may influence how boards behave is outside influence – everyone else knows how to run the board – everyone looking into the fish bowl thinks they know best and want their two cents worth – this can be detrimental – again this comes down to a breakdown of trust and the issue of “the best interest” again I ask “whose best interest” or “whose agenda”? Once you as a board member breach confidentiality and let the outside world in...... it opens the board to criticism.... there is a fine line between being transparent and breaching confidences that lead to untenable situations.

If you do not have good governance you will not be able to function as expected and when things go pear shaped you have nothing to fall back on, it is imperative to ensure there are appropriate governance structures in place to protect your board and organisation.

I am truly saddened that great women have been wounded –in my experience 95% of people are good....but sure as hell that 5% can cause havoc, there is always a minority that cause you to have to reconsider your point of view:

I am disappointed that I have not been able to achieve the things I wanted and have a heavy heart however I am confident I have followed my heart and acted “in the best interest of the College”.

KEEPING BIRTH NORMAL:

2010-11-14T09:11:00.007+08:00

Thanks Carolyn (Thinkbirth)for this link: and yes Carolyn you are correct in saying every item could be a blog on its own......

The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of normal birth is: ‘Spontaneous in onset, low-risk at the start of labour and remaining so throughout labour and delivery. The infant is born spontaneously in the vertex position between 37 and 42 completed weeks of pregnancy. After birth mother and infant are in good condition’.

It is a pity not every State and Territory in Australia adopts this policy TOWARDS NORMAL BIRTH: NSW is leading the way: the policy is aimed to increase normal birth and decrease surgical intervention. Western Australia needs to take a leaf out of the NSW book: I may even suggest it to our Minister of Health and our Chief Nurse and our Midwifery Advisor to see if we could not adopt this proactive lead to ensure that Normal Birth is the focus; even better I might give them Carolyn's 21 strategies to keep birth normal........

10 Steps
1. Have a written normal birth policy/guidelines, along with other
relevant policies, that are routinely communicated to all health care staff

2. Train all health care staff in skills necessary to
implement this policy

3. Provide or facilitate access to midwifery continuity of carer programs in collaboration with GPs and obstetricians for all women with appropriate consultation, referral and transfer guidelines in place

4. Inform all pregnant women about the benefits of normal birth and
factors that promote normal birth

5. Have a written policy on pain relief in labour that includes the use
of water immersion in labour and birth

6. Have a written postdates policy/guideline that is routinely
communicated to all health care staff (All women have an agreed due date of birth
documented in their health record)

7. Provide or facilitate access to vaginal birth after caesarean section
operation (VBAC) that is supported by a written vaginal birth after
caesarean section operation policy/guideline (develop statewide workshop of GPs, midwives and obstetricians to exchange views and skills regarding VBAC)

8. Provide or facilitate access to external cephalic version

9. Provide one to one care in labour for all women experiencing their
first labour or undertaking a vaginal birth after caesarean section
operation, vaginal breech or vaginal twin birth (implement local guidelines/protocols that discourage activities that separate midwives from the woman in labour. This includes the use of centralised monitoring systems as they discourage midwives from being with the woman in the labour room)

10. Provide formal debriefing in the immediate postpartum period for all women requiring primary caesarean section operation or instrumental birth with the opportunity for further discussion and information transfer

What I really like is Carolyn's inspirational and passionate list: this is how it should really read....in plain simple language that everyone understands....

Carolyn's 21 Strategies to help keep birth Normal:

1. Avert the medical 'gaze'

2. Be powerful and able to negotiate as equals to doctors

3. Establish a "round table culture'

4. Dispel 'urban myths' about birth

5. Support women to choose upright positions in labour

6. Educate teenagers

7. Promote the use of positive images of birth

8. Look at system issues: promote and change to woman centred midwifery models

9. Discuss what normal birth means to us and ensure we are talking about the same things

10. Listen to women with respect - what does the woman want?

11. Encourage women in labour to stay home as long as possible

12. Establish and provide support structures to help women stay at home in early labour

13.Establish and provide support structures so women can choose to stay home to give birth if desired

14. Examine our own attitudes to 'being with woman' in pain and uncertainty

15. Seek to establish a relationship with each woman

16. Allay fear: let woman know what birth is really about

17. Address anxiety of support people and other health professionals

18. Pay attention to the language we use

19. Have confidence in women's ability to give birth

20. Pay attention to our body language as body language conveys meaning: what are we saying?

21. Set up birth space intentionally - find out what makes each woman feel safe and do that.

Yeah AHPRA coming to the party; Good News;

2010-11-11T14:01:00.005+08:00

After some frustrated phone calls to the College and a few letters to AHPRA it is good to see that AHPRA are listening and things are becoming easier; it pays to voice your opinion and it is even better when the other party comes to the table; well done to the ACM (Barb Vernon EO) for going in to bat for us and well done to AHPRA for considering the issues on the table and resolving them....... here is some of the good news;

I have just had confirmation from AHPRA that: (via the ACM)

1. MPR certificate will from now on be taken as sufficient evidence of
c. Current competence to provide pregnancy, labour, birth and post natal
care to women and their infants;
d. Successful completion of an approved professional practice review
program for midwives working across the continuum of midwifery care;

2. Professional references can now be provided by a midwifery colleague. The requirement for a reference from a ‘member of the multidisciplinary team’ (obstetrician) has been dropped

3. References do not need to address every element of the ANMC competency standards. They are able to be a general third party statement of support for your application from a midwifery colleague or manager

As for my application I am happy to announce that;

AHPRA has also agreed that they would be happy for ACM to reissue MPR certificates to existing applicants with wording that confirms their review was in relation to their competence across the full scope of midwifery practice. I am still waiting on a response to my questions relating the 3 year / 5 year requirement on the application form & the criteria for certifying documents;

Fantastic; now all I have to wait for is that the college will send a certified copy directly to AHPRA on my behalf, (which won't take long) and I will get the amended original for my midplus folder to replace the current one.... then I will get my notation; yeah!

Step one; MPR completed;
Step two: Eligibility completed: next Medicare!

Keep watching this space............

Red tape of AHPRA:

2010-11-06T00:21:00.005+08:00

Next installment of my application for eligibility; here I was Miss Perfect at following instructions and I haven’t got it right; I had all my documents certified by a lecturer at the university stating "this is a certified copy etc"to be informed that this was not correct: for your information these are the certified people for AHPRA;

Who can certify documents?In Australia, the following people are authorized to certify documents:

Justice of the Peace, Bail Justice, Registrar or Deputy Registrar
Commissioner for Declarations, Commissioner for Oaths, Commissioner for Affidavits
Lawyer
Accountant (member of the ICA, ASA, NIA OR CPA)
Registered members of the teaching profession (not university)
Member of the police force
Sheriff or Deputy Sherriff
Public Notary
Permanent staff member of AHPRA

Alas this means I have to do it all over again; photocopy and resend. Second problem, the letter from my past employer was not sufficient, it was not enough to say that I had been employed across the spectrum of midwifery and that I was deemed competent by the institution, the manager has to address the ANMC competencies as well, this is a step too far… I have completed the Midwifery Practice Review which addresses each competency……I am a patient woman and I understand that you need to ensure that midwives are competent…. But this really is going overboard.

What I thought was going to be a relatively smooth process is turning into a mind field of red tape and bureaucratic nonsense; there is something to be said about waiting until the first batch have gone through to iron out all the problems, however one would not consider that there would be so many issues and the goal posts moving.
Watch this space: Pauline

How to apply for eligibility:

2010-11-01T23:02:00.004+08:00

Today I sent in my application for an eligible midwife; like anything new the process is TIME consuming and there will be teething problems: I am hoping that I have completed everything as required; You do not need insurance to apply for eligibility; I have to say that I have had to send my application to Sydney as WA is not ready for this process: Here is my step by step process:

Step 1; Go to the AHPRA website and download on the first page fourth heading ‘Registration’ on drop down menu second one down click ‘Registration Process’; left hand side blue box; fifth one down; click common registration forms; Standard Format for Curriculum Vitae:print and save this form.

Step 2; While on the AHPRA website go to the Nursing and Midwifery site and download the Registration Standards for the Eligible Midwife third from the bottom; then on the left hand side fifth from the bottom click on forms; a third of the way down the page look for the heading Notations; click on Application for addition of notation as an eligible Midwife; print and save this form.

Step 3: Now you need to read and complete the forms; to make sure you meet these requirements before you apply; I have heard that there has been a problem with Independent Midwives who do not have Midwifery Managers.... so watch this space.... I would think that maybe one way around that might be that they could sign a statutory deceleration..... as this is legally binding.... but that will be for the Board to decide....lets hope they will work it out soon...

a. Current general registration as a midwife in Australia with no restrictions
on practice; You need to add your registration number with AHPRA:

b. Midwifery experience that constitutes the equivalent of 3 years full time
post initial registration as a midwife; Here you need a letter from your current Midwifery Manager outlining that you have worked across the continuum of midwifery care, antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal this letter is dated and signed;
You also need a statement of service; this is obtained from your HR department; I rang Health Corporate Network and gave them the years I work at the government institution and they sent me a very detailed statement of service;

c. Current competence to provide pregnancy, labour, birth and post natal
care to women and their infants; this can be proven by completing the Midwifery Practice Review (ACM) or some other accredited program(I don't know of any other one apart from the ACM one.

d. Successful completion of an approved professional practice review
program for midwives working across the continuum of midwifery care; as above

e. 20 additional hours per year of continuing professional development
relating to the continuum of midwifery care; if you have MidPLUS this will be easy you will just print out your summary; If you do not have MidPLUS you will have to produce evidence of attaining these points; copy your certificates and get them certified copies; I did not send any originals of certificates they were all certified copies.

f. Formal undertaking to complete within 18 months of recognition as a
eligible midwife; or the successful completion of: I wrote a letter using this wording saying that i will formerly undertake the course when it is ready.

i. An accredited and approved program of study determined by the
Board to develop midwives’ knowledge and skills in prescribing, or
ii. A program that is substantially equivalent to such an approved
program of study. As above.

Step 4: Follow the Standard format for CV; as it is slightly different to your current one; I just cut and pasted from my regular CV. One thing that is very different is the request for clinical / procedural skills - with this one I made up a table that gave the dates of my general clinical competences such as Obstetric emergencies; suturing, IV cannulation, neonatal resuscitation etc; and added certified copies of the certificates; You must make a declaration that your CV is true and correct and sign it. The CV has to be an original not a copy;

Step 5; add payment for your application; $90.00

Step 6: you also need someone to witness your signature when you have completed the application form

Step 7; Make sure you go through the checklist it is helpful to ensure you have completed everything; although the checklist does not ask for a letter from the manager and this is a requirement; Not sure why when you provide a statement of service;

Step 8; Take a copy of what you have prepared, I find this always good practice; double check it again and then post it to the AHPRA office in your capital city; if in WA post to Sydney NSW for the interim until the office is more settled in WA, as we only came on board middle of October.

I found this process tedious especially having to photocopy and get 16 copies certified of my qualifications and certificates; the CV was not problematic but had to be changed from my usual format; the letter from the employer was not difficult nor was obtaining the statement of service you just need to allow for the time to prepare for this application; I am hoping now that I have all this information that hospitals who require credentially will not want any more than this and when you have prepared it once it is then done.... life should be easy now....NEXT STEP MEDICARE PROVIDER NUMBER:

Lets hope I have not forgotten anything and have completed the application as required... will let you know how I get on......go on be daring take the step and apply for eligibility;

For more information visit the AHPRA website;

APHRA is up and for running WA

2010-10-25T21:46:00.007+08:00

National Registration is finally here.... I have heard about it for over 20 years and finally the time has come; CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION:

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency for WA is up and running, have some fun and check out your name, check out your doctors name see if they are registered and if there are any restrictions placed on them. Click on this link APHRA then scroll down a third of the screen, go to the second blue box, heading HEALTH PRACTITIONERS then click How can I check my registration status? Follow the instructions and all you have to do is put in your full name, health profession and state, you don’t need the registration number.... and then see what happens.

I am undecided whether I think this is a good idea or not, yes I think it is beneficial that you can check so easily that someone is registered, but having my disciplinary history for the world to see, that I consider an invasion of my privacy. I will however remain open about the concept and see how it all pans out. In terms of people state hopping when they are investigated yes a fantastic idea, but for those who genuinely make a mistake your record is there for everyone to see.

You can also visit the Decisions and check on all Health Practitioners and decisions made in relationship to complaints.......this is transparency for you; These are outcomes of court hearings, tribunal hearings and hearings conducted by regulation agencies that were completed or started before 1 July 2010, relating to complaints and notifications made about health practitioners or students.

Let me know what your thoughts are? And be sure that you don’t find your name in that list........it may work as a deterrent.

Click here to read more for WA....Practitioners from WA who have not renewed by 30 September: also read frequently asked questions information. The APHRA site is packed with information, spend some time looking at the site, it is worth your time;

2010 CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

2010-10-17T22:07:00.002+08:00

WA Branch ACM presents the 2010 Annual Conference and AGM
@ City West Function Centre,
45 Plaistowe Mews, City West, West Perth

Friday 12 November; 08:30 - 16:30

Come and be inspired and energised about new initiatives in the world of midwifery, pregnancy care and childbirth education for women and their partners. Hear updates from the College at the AGM and finish the day relaxing with friends and colleagues at the sundowner drinks and nibbles.

Pregnancy screening - What’s the latest?
Gestational Diabetes - future changes being proposed - Dianne Bond
Which women are Vit D deficient? - Sadie Geraghty
Cannabis - should we be screening? - Renate McLaurin
Implementing screening for haemoglobinopathies - Dr Janet Hornbuckle
Childbirth Education - making a difference - Deb Slater & Lesley Kuliukas
Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse - Statewide Protection of Children Coordination Unit
EPDS - using it with men? - Pam Whittacker
Beer & Bubs - Cath Cook
Yummy Mummy - remedial massage and pampering - Amy Mitchell Annual General Meeting

REGISTRATION 08.30 - 09.00
Registration includes refreshments & lunch Sundowner drinks and nibbles 16.30 – 17.30Free parking all day
REGISTRATIONS CLOSE
8TH NOVEMBER 2010

ENQUIRIES:
email; acmwabranch@gmail.com
TO REGISTER
www.midwives.org.au ACM NATIONAL OFFICE
(02) 6230 7333 1300 360 480 (free call)
Pay on line.....

FULL DAY COST (GST INCLUSIVE)
MEMBERS $100 / NON-MEMBERS $120 STUDENTS $70 / GROUP BOOKING
(4 OR MORE) DISCOUNT $10 PP
ACM CPD points apply *Program subject to change

Cheers Pauline

Check out the Determination for Medicare Provider Numbers

2010-10-13T23:44:00.003+08:00

Please have a look at the Health Insurance (Midwife and Nurse Practitioner)Determination 2010Health Insurance Act 1973
I, NICOLA ROXON, Minister for Health and Ageing, make this Determination under
section 3C of the Health Insurance Act 1973.
Dated 4 October 2010

This determination comes into force 1 November; Midwifery services and fees range from $31.10 - $724.00 and providing a service fee for 6 weeks postnatal period...

We have to remember that this does not cover homebirth and we need to continue to put pressure on the government to pass this midwifery services fee onto women who choose to have a homebirth.....

Cycling around Australia...Where is Marg Phelan up to

2010-10-13T08:27:00.006+08:00

Here is an Update from Marg.... see where she is now;they have done really well, what an achievement to cycle across the Nullabor, I remember many years ago driving across and thinking my God miles and miles of complete nothingness...but spectacular at the same time.. I couldn't imagine cycling across.....what a phenomenal group of women... here is part of Marg's email letting us know where she is.....

Hi all
We are half way across the Nullabor. We are at Eucla for 2 nights and move on tomorrow. We have been out of phone and internet cover for the past week so unable to contact anyone.
Hope all is good for you and everything is going as planned.
Cycling going well in spite of head winds, cool temperatures and some rain. Robyn is doing a great job with Muriel (name of the van) and the roadies duties
We have 6 more days of no coverage till we get to Ceduna.

Check out our website www.gogirlaustralia.net.au as Su has put more photos on and some more on the blog.

Love and hugs to you all
Gogirls xxx

Marg Phelan, Midwife

www.gogirlaustralia.net.au
Cycling for midwives, women
Normal birth & breastfeeding

Order your ACM WA Merchandise now:

2010-10-06T20:13:00.002+08:00

The WA ACM Branch has an exciting range of merchandise for you to purchase for friends, family and special occasions; sun hats, fleece, shirts, thumb drives, sun-visor and more...take a look...
Click on the picture to access a larger view; once opened in picasa click on picture again, this will enlarge the view: place your order by emailing us at acmwabranch@gmail.com; together with your payment details;
Thank you

Curtin Graduation: Nursing and Midwifery: 2010

2010-10-05T21:34:00.008+08:00

That time of year again, celebrating the graduation of a new batch of Nurses and Midwives.... a few more people with PhD's and others with Masters,Graduate Diploma's, Graduate Certificates etc; great achievements, congratulations to all. I particularly enjoy the pomp and ceremony of graduation... the excitement of the graduates, their proud parents, partners, family... it is just wonderful... As a lecturer I feel a sense of achievement and warmth....anticipating a fantastic career for these budding graduates...taking both professions forward...our future leaders; It was good to see a baby in the audience......as its mother received her award....

These are some of the nursing class of 2010, I had the pleasure of teaching these nursing students.....and am looking forward to watching their careers grow and they becoming our future leaders;

The student response was presented by Corrina Farr, Postgraduate Diploma (Midwifery)who also won the Australian College of Midwives Membership Award:
The Western Australian Nurse Memorial Charitable Trust Award was won by Debra Pallier:
In total there were 12 presentations for prizes and awards.... many excited and happy recipients.

It was good to see Jenny graduate.... her PhD was 10yrs in the making....when I listened to her one minute speech, I was happy that I have decided to do something other than my PhD; her advice to the audience was "if you are going to embark on your PhD, please make sure you are young enough to enjoy the benefits of completing it. I left my run to late, if I was to advise you about anything that would be it...start it when you are younger".

Good luck to all the graduates may your career be fulfilling and may you always remember to treat your clients with the same respect and care that you would expect for yourself.

AMA Position on collaboration:

2010-09-29T10:30:00.003+08:00

Here is the AMA document for collaboration; yes there are parts of it that make me cringe.... however it must be equally difficult for the AMA, not that any midwife wants to hear that; Click on the link to read the document;

Collaborative Arrangements what you need to know? the irony of this document has to make you laugh or cry:

"Working with other health professionals is an everyday feature of clinical practice for a modern medical practitioner. Effective teamwork can improve patient outcomes, create new opportunities for learning,and build a shared understanding of the skills that each person brings to the care of a patient."

If we do not embrace these changes, then pressure will mount on the Government to relax the requirement for collaborative arrangements to be in place. This would risk fragmentation of care to the detriment of patients.

This is the most telling statement of all.... this means the AMA is seriously concerned that if they the doctors do not collaborate then changes will be made......this is in our favour.

As always I am presenting you with the information and you can decide for yourselves; As i have stated before; My vision is that all women will have the choice of continuity of midwifery care with a midwife and the right to claim a Medicare Rebate for fee for services;
Whilst I do not like the wording in this Determination I can see that this is still a historic time for midwives and midwifery....

Why do people read and not leave a comment?

2010-09-24T17:14:00.005+08:00

I am expressing a level of frustration; how are people to make decisions when you put out information and you get no responses; what does it take for people to respond? i know you read the blogs, but never a comment; this is so important; does this mean you accept the staus quo, you don't give a toss, you have no opinion, or really doesn't matter what you say nothing will change? I have no idea what to think....because it's one way communication here....

I liken the position of the Australian College of Midwives to the recent federal election: everyone you speak to is voting for the person you want.... or not voting for that person....the numbers are close all the polls predicated 50 - 50 or thereabout.....Now with the Determination; I have to say the polarity is almost the same, although I think that because the majority of midwives are not commenting.... the minority who believe that the determination should be squashed have a louder voice. Therefore this is the common view because the rest aren't speaking..... we have 500 members in WA.... and i have heard from less than a quarter.....it is time to be vocal.....

The facts are that the Determination was passed in July...when it comes up in the Senate next week it is to allow or disallow..... there is no discussion about the determination....the time for talking is over... Any debate that would be had, would then be as to whether, or not, the disallowance motion should be passed.
... the bottom line is if it is not allowed... we then lose everything, because the Government of the day will not reintroduce it. I have to add why would they?

The argument I have been given is that the determination will create a two tier midwifery service.... I believe this happened when we created 'the eligible midwife' not the medicare provider number.... and rebate.... in fact i could argue there has always been a two level midwifery service...those midwives who believe their scope of practice is the experts in normal childbirth.... then to collaborate when things move outside that scope with an Obstetrician.... however there are those midwives who will accept and care for a woman from any risk category because it is the woman's choice..... there we have a dichotomy: my solution is if you had that , trusting, supportive arrangement with your women it wouldn't matter if you had to seek collaborative advice from an Obstetrician..... it is all about the relationship you build with the woman.....

is this a topic to which we will get no agreement or have things just got to a point where the passionate people from both sides are at logger head... and the majority of midwives are just not engaged.....?

THE FACTS: The Determination:

2010-09-22T17:57:00.002+08:00

1) Will not prevent private midwives being able to practice (they can still access insurance)

2) Will not prevent women being able to make choices –If you are having a homebirth and choose not to access Medicare you do not need a signed agreement with a doctor.

3) Only affects midwives seeking to access Medicare and midwives can choose not to do this.

4) Is not included in the NMBA Quality and Safety Exemption Framework supporting private midwives providing homebirth services

5) Does not re-define the ICM definition of a midwife – it does not define the role or scope of practice of midwives in Australia. It only defines how midwives can access Medicare if they choose to do so. Midwives can still work in public and/or private practice and access insurance and register as a midwife (under our current regulatory requirements that have an accepted definition and scope of practice of the midwife in Australia).

6) Does not mean that midwives must have a signed agreement with a doctor – this is only IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCESS MEDICARE - Midwives can have
a. an individual signed agreement with a doctor
b. a referral of a woman to you
c. clinical privileging
d. an agreement signed by the medical director of a hospital.

7) Does not mean you need acknowledgment in writing - we have been told by the Minister’s advisors that a midwife writing in her own clinical notes that results etc have been sent to the hospital/doctor where they have a collaborative arrangement meets this requirement.

Urgent information: Determination:

2010-09-22T17:38:00.005+08:00

The ACM has sent an urgent e-bulletin out to its members to let them know about the delicate position the College finds it's self in - Whilst the College is not happy with the terms of the Determination we are in real danger of losing everything we have been working for by not accepting this Determination; That is Medicare for Midwives:

The College has consistently requested some changes to the Determination:
".....while we were very committed to seeing the maternity reforms progress there are several concerns regarding the implementation of the Determination. We also noted that very small changes in the wording of the determination would resolve many of these issues. Our suggested word changes are,
• Removing the words ‘named medical practitioner’
• Removing the words ‘acknowledgement by a named medical practitioner’
• Addition of the words ‘a health provider organisation’ to Part 1. Section 4 c (important for rural & remote purposes and also applicable to urban Aboriginal Health Services)."

Also the Minister will continue with the plan for Nurse Practitioners however would let the Midwife Determination go....

"We were also advised that the Minister is very aware of the potential move to disallow the Determination and the government is therefore seeking urgent legal advice about uncoupling the Nurse Practitioner (NP) Determination from the Midwife Determination to enable the NP Determination to progress through parliament. They stated that the Minister has no intention of letting the NP Determination fall through (if the Midwife Determination is challenged) and will work hard to ensure this does not occur. However, the Minister’s advisors also stated that Minister Roxon has ‘lost political capital over this and will not seek to reintroduce the Midwife Determination if it is disallowed’. Sadly maternity care is not high on the agenda in health at the moment despite all our (consumers and midwives) efforts to make it so."

The Minister has clarified these points:
"The Minister’s advisors also stated that in the Determination:
• The requirement for ‘acknowledgement by a medical practitioner’ could be met simply by a midwife recording in the woman’s medical history that information had been sent to a medical practitioner, and
• That the medical director of a hospital could be the ‘named practitioner’ (we have this in writing from Minister Roxon dated 27th November 2009) signing on behalf of the hospital medical staff.
• Clinical Privileging is a Collaborative Arrangement which does not require any further sign off from a ‘named medical practitioner’.

You have to ask yourself whether it would be better to let the determination be disallowed and work really hard to try and get it up in a way that we feel is workable from the beginning?
However, the consequence of this means we risk not getting Medicare for midwives in the next three years or perhaps at all.

This is too big a risk to take! We believe that over the next few years we could see thousands of women benefiting from access to Medicare in a variety of different models. Specifically, we see this will increase access to funded continuity of midwifery care which many women do not currently have.

Please be proactive and leave a comment: what do you think? and please leave you first name when commenting: no anonymous comments will be published

Pauline Costins

Reflections from a student midwife:

2010-09-21T18:35:00.003+08:00

Student Midwife Reflection six months into her course:

Wow what an experience the past six months has been! I have spent the first half of this year on the maternity ward at Southwest Hospital and work with a fantastic team of midwives. I have loved every day of it and although it has not been easy at times, it has been worth every moment.

I have been extremely lucky in my experiences and have been a part of some awesome births and met some amazing women. I have been a part of three water births, a vaginal twin birth including one breech, hypnobirthing and a baby ‘born in the caul’, just to name a few highlights. My mentor Susan is a great midwife whose knowledge and commitment to women and the midwifery profession astounds me. Although I mostly work with her, I realise it is important to work with other midwives as everyone works differently and has different pieces of knowledge which I know will help me to become the best midwife I can be.

Every Friday we have a Midwives Clinic where women who have shared care with their doctors, come to us for a few visits during their pregnancy. This for me is a real highlight, I enjoy meeting these women antenatally, even if it’s only briefly and building a rapport with them as it is the closest form of continuity of care we have here at the moment.

Everyday is constant learning whether I’m working in labour suites, on the postnatal ward, or in the Midwives Clinic, I usually come home mentally exhausted from everything I have learned that day, I feel like a big sponge absorbing everything! I have become much more confident in CTG analysis and breastfeeding education, although I am not as confident with vaginal examinations as each one is so different, so I am endeavouring to improve on that skill!

The hardest part of becoming a midwife for me is the constant battle for ‘normal birth’. I see midwives everyday advocating for their women to allow for the birth that they want and some doctors just need to interfere. It seems that some of them feel the need to ‘rescue’ these women from that ‘horrible thing’ called labour, they don’t seem to realise that it is the most natural part of life. I’ve seen women coping beautifully with a labour that is progressing and a baby not distressed at all and a doctor walk in and insist on interfering in one way or another, which alters the woman’s ability to trust her body and it appears to be only for the reason of doctor convenience. It is frustrating and on going. The doctors are there for those women, who need assistance in the birth of their baby and in obstetric emergencies, and that’s when midwives then step aside and work with the doctors for the safest option of birth, whether it be an operative vaginal birth or caesarean section. It can be draining being an advocate for these women to get a ‘normal birth’, but worth every bit of it when you get a happy and healthy woman with a happy and healthy baby.

The most important lesson that I have learnt is to always listen to the woman. If she states she feels an urge to push, yet was only 2cm dilated half an hour ago, BELIEVE HER!!

So another six months to go until I am a fully fledged midwife, it is scary, yet exciting. I can’t wait to see what to future holds and look forward to the rest of the year!

Written by Aleisha (Student Midwife)

Midwives wonderful women......dinner with Marg Phelan

2010-09-07T22:39:00.017+08:00

Marg Phelan a midwife originally from Victoria, now living in NT (president of the Australian College of Midwives in 2003) is cycling around Australia to raise awareness for midwives, normal birth, women's childbirth choices and breastfeeding. Marg and her superb team travel on average 100k per day, what a feat.... tonight they were enjoying a glass of red, and the company of the ACM WA Executive, student midwives and colleagues.....

I have just come home having a wonderful dinner with a phenomenal group of women; being a midwife is such a privilege and opens the door to meeting a multitude of people from all walks of life.

The team

I was enjoying chatting to Marg's team, Sue a renal nurse specialist from the NT who is the driver of the bus, Lois a scientist from Victoria who advocates that cycling keeps you young, Rhea also from Victoria an infection control nurse, says she sleeps really well after cycling and its the best way to see the country and Rob who is a midwife also from Victoria who has just joined the group to do the driving from Perth to Victoria says no way am I cycling happy to drive the bus, so that Sue can do some cycling with Marg. Marg does all the cycling and the others take turns or cycle with Marg...I have to say it puts me to shame knowing that the average age of the group is 60 years young.... my legs just ache at the thought of 100k's a day.... oops ladies after our chat about going to bed early the computer went on when I came home....it was calling me......just had to write about you all before Alzheimer's set in....what an inspiration all these women are, such dedication and passion..... how would I describe them.... fantastic, wonderful, remarkable and unique.

A couple of our Bachelor of Midwifery students Beth and Lisa who organised the Mum's bub's and midwives at Point Walter also joined us for dinner....they had the opportunity to chat to the team, it's about the new and the experienced sharing the common goal of midwifery and how to keep moving the profession forward and upwards into the future.....

These sorts of evenings allow us to network, share stories, enjoy a glass of red... and just chat.....

Have a safe journey and we will be watching you.....go girl australia... anyone wanting to help Marg Phelan please visit her website or email her on margiphelan@hotmail.com

Ciao Pauline

2010-09-03T17:16:00.000+08:00

Welcome to Marg Phelan.........Go Girl Australia

2010-09-03T16:46:00.009+08:00

Go Girl Australia - Marg Phelan, cycled into Fremantle around 12noon today, it was a beautiful sunny day and there were wonderful people to meet her.....I was so excited... in my time I have waited for lots of different occasions and I must say I was thrilled to meet this exceptional woman.... I would put Marg Phelan in my 10 best people I have met in my lifetime....she is an extraordinary woman, such passion, drive, commitment for her fellow human being.....a truly inspirational woman.

Marg will be here from the 3rd - 9th Sept before heading south to Mandurah.

You still have a chance to meet Marg Phelan on Monday at Point Walter 12 - 2pm...come and share some time to meet and greet this amazing woman; -
Sponsor Marg with donations of cash, fuel vouchers, cycling gear, bike parts, accommodation, food;
Advertise Go Girl Australia through your business or community group
if you wish to donate to the cause please bring some cash with you or go online to Go Girl Australia and sponsor;

2010-09-03T12:45:00.001+08:00

This is Marg Phelan just arrived at Woodman Point after cycling from Darwin. Go Go Girl!

Come and welcome Marg Phelan...... in Fremantle

2010-08-31T19:38:00.007+08:00

Hi All Midwives and Women / families who read this blog and live in WA;

Marg Phelan arrives: If you are free on Friday 3rd Sept from about 1pm.... Marg is due to arrive in Fremantle at Big 4 Caravan Park, 132 Cockburn Road, Munster WA: Woodman Point Caravan Park: They will be setting off from Burns Beach Joondulup in the morning and cycling to Freo..

Want to know something about Marg Phelan visit her website http://gogirlaustralia.net.au/sponsorship/4537288921

Australian midwife Marg Phelan cycles around Australia for midwives, women, normal birth and breastfeeding. Marg Phelan, a mother and midwife from the Northern Territory, feels so passionate about women’s right to access midwives that she is cycling around Australia to spread the word that women have the right to choose where and with whom they give birth and to be properly supported in these choices. Marg Phelan says, “We believe that every Australian woman is entitled to continuity of midwifery care and good support to help achieve a normal birth and be able to enjoy breastfeeding. Far too many women are not well informed about their options in pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting.”
Go Girl Australia is a not-for-profit venture that aims to promote continuity of care from a known midwife, normal birth and breastfeeding.

Come down and welcome her, bring family, friends, a balloon and share the excitement......wave and support this extraordinary women into Freo.....

Cheers Pauline

Calling all members of the ACM......it's time for the annual general meeting;

2010-08-31T10:40:00.004+08:00

To all financial members of the College, it is time for you to have your say....do you want something? do you want to changes something? or just soak up the atmosphere? be proactive this is your College: I will be sending some of the photos of our study days from WA.... if you have some photos you want to send for the slide please send them to the National office or I am happy to send them for you.
Have a weekend in Melbourne.....enjoy the AGM and then a show or and evening out...dine at some of Melbourne's finest restaurants.....

The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) will be holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 9th October 2010 in Glen Waverly (Melbourne), Victoria. Meeting papers will be arriving in the post in early September with more details.

As a valued member of the ACM you are warmly invited to attend this event and be updated on one of the most extraordinary years for maternity.

You also have the opportunity to create Motions to be heard at the meeting. Please note that all proposed Motions for consideration at the Annual General Meeting must be:

• Submitted in writing to the National Office by close of business on Monday 6th September, 2010;
• Proposed and Seconded by financial members of the ACM; and
• Accompanied by a brief rationale supporting the Motion (100-200 words)

Each year the team at the National Office creates a slide show photographs to pictorially portray our great achievements over the past year. We are keen to receive any photos that you may have that help us celebrate this wonderful profession.

If you would like to contribute photographs of yourself, colleagues or women and babies you have cared for, please email them through to Siobhan Gregory at reception@midwives.org.au

PLEASE NOTE: It is important to obtain permission to use images of others prior to sending through your photos.

We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in October!

Invite to mums, dads, bubs and midwives.

2010-08-30T13:32:00.003+08:00

Margaret Phelan is cycling around Australia to raise awareness for women's choice to have continuity of care with a known midwife. Please join us for a big mums, bubs, midwives get together to show our support for this extraordinary venture and fundamental human right.

Date: Monday September 6th
Time: 12-2pm

Place: Point Walter on the shore

Address: turn into Point Walter road from Canning hwy. Point Walter road becomes Honour Ave-down to river front. Bicton, Perth, Australia

Bring: A rug to sit on, picnic lunch, children, banner’s to support midwives, women and choice in childbirth

Please come and show your support
www.gogirlaustralia.net.au

Radio National's Life Matters program, after the 9am news.

2010-08-12T10:46:00.003+08:00

Liz Wilkes and Ted Weaver are sheduled to debate the "collaborative arrangements" problem tomorrow/Thursday morning, on Radio National's Life Matters program, after the 9am news.

Please listen in and take any opportunity to make comment.

For those who'd like to hear the online audio, download the podcast, or make comment, the website is:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/

Homebirth a matter of choice for Australian women

2010-08-12T10:08:00.005+08:00

See this media release by the Greens

Australian Greens Health spokesperson, Senator Rachel Siewert has today announced the Greens’ policy for a National Homebirth reform package to provide women with greater choice at the time of their baby’s birth.

“We believe the choice to experience a safe and supported low-risk homebirth should be available in Australia,” Senator Siewert said today.
“The Australian Greens believe that women should have a range of birthing choices, including homebirths, in order to provide the best outcome for mother and child,” Senator Siewert said.

“There is no reason why homebirths should not be offered to women at low risk of complications, saying it may confer considerable benefits to them and their families,” said Senator Siewert.

“There is considerable international evidence showing that birthing at home increases a woman's likelihood of a birth that is satisfying and safe, with positive health implications for mother and baby alike.

“Our maternity care system should support parents to make informed choices and enable a smooth and timely transition to higher levels of care as the need arises.

“This allows for important aspects of birthing safety to be covered, providing women who wish to experience a homebirth the best of both worlds.

“We need to ensure we have a good understanding of the medical risk factors associated with childbirth and that women making this important choice have access to the best clinical care.

“At the same time we need to appreciate the impacts of stress on mother and child to ensure we look at the social and emotional factors that enable us to provide a safe and supportive
“Not only do the Greens think a more collaborative and integrated model of practice is possible – it is absolutely necessary,” concluded Senator Siewert.

Under the Australian Greens' proposal a National Homebirth Reform Plan would provide for:

a clear policy framework for midwifery care that defines the ‘collaborative’ relationship between midwifes and doctors
best practice within homebirth services built on fully supportive organisations' systems and structures
a shared philosophy that fosters a service culture of reciprocal valuing of all birth environments
comprehensive involvement by local multidisciplinary teams and users to underpin homebirth practices within a clinical governance framework
responsible and responsive practices maintained by effective clinical decision making

Insurance provision
An insurance product covering homebirth under the midwives’ own responsibility must be developed by the insurance industry or initiated by the Federal Government once the timeframe for the exemption for eligibility has passed.

ref:http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/

Collaborative Arrangements – What can you do?

2010-08-11T11:54:00.004+08:00

Australian College of Midwives - E-Bulletin

Collaborative Arrangements – What can you do?

Dear Members and Consumers

As you would be aware a key component of the National Maternity Reform Package implemented by the current government was to give midwives and the women they care for access to Medicare rebates and to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). In September this year midwives will be able to begin applying for a Medicare provide number in preparation for the implementation of the legislated reforms on 1st November.

The most recent developments around the recent release of the Determination (or secondary regulations) that now define the detail of collaborative arrangements are concerning and will restrict the way midwives will be able to practice. The Determination was signed into law by the Governor General on 16th July and released just prior to the announcement of the election.

Despite the government¹s stated intention in March this year of not wanting to provide a right of veto over another health professional¹s practice it would appear that the Determination does just that.

You can view a copy of the determination by clinking on the link below http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrument1.nsf/all/whatsnew/6A0EF93573665149CA257762000BBDEE?OpenDocument

So what can you do about this?
We are encouraging you to phone, write, email or talk to your local federal member – especially when they are out campaigning -

• Let them know you live in their electorate and what your address is (they need this to prove you live there).

• Tell them you are very concerned that the recent determination - the National Health (Collaboration Arrangements for Midwives) Determination 2010 - will enable the medical profession to have veto over midwifery practice and prevent the success of the maternity reforms.

• Plan local activities to let all the candidates in your electorate know how you feel and involve consumers and local media if possible.

• You can also ring Nicola Roxon on 02 627777220 and let her know what you think!
You can find details of your electoral office on the following link http://apps.aec.gov.au/esearch/

Associate Professor Hannah Dahlen
President, Australian College of Midwives

Homebirths a GP's new dilemma

2010-08-10T16:24:00.003+08:00

The medical Observer: read the full article by clicking this link;

10th Aug 2010: Leigh Parry all articles by this author

If your patient decides on a midwife-led home birth and asks for prescriptions, could you be legally liable if something goes wrong? A PREGNANT patient informs you she’s decided to employ a private midwife for a home birth and asks for a prescription for Syntocinon (oxytocin). Do you prescribe?

It is not a common request, but one that GPs are increasingly facing as the popularity of home births grows.

Midwives are able to legally administer Syntocinon but cannot prescribe it, until 1 November when changes to federal laws mean nurse practitioners will have limited access to the MBS and PBS.

Complicating the issue is the Federal Government’s new professional indemnity scheme for midwives, which came into effect on 1 July.

I have to ask the question; what is meaningful collaboration, if collaboration only means one way..... obstetrician to midwife? how legal is that?

Midwives work within a strict framework and adhere to the ACM Referral guidelines and the ANMC Codes... it is about time both the AMA and the government realise this....collaboration has to be a two way street.....

ACM Alice Springs for ACM National mag

2010-08-09T22:44:00.000+08:00

Midwives Insurance options made easy:

2010-07-25T20:30:00.008+08:00

If you are a private practice midwife / independent midwife you will need insurance cover: your choices are MIGA and Medisure/Mediprotect - I have discusse these options on a previous blog.... however some midwives have expressed the need for an easier expanation.

What you need to do is read what both companies have to offer: In a nutshell:
MIGA - offers a comprehensive insurance and the cost is up to $7500.00 per anuum, this insurance also has a run off compontent.... and what that means is that it covers you for when you stop working:

Professional indemnity insurance is provided on a claims made basis – this means your policy will only cover you for claims that are made and reported to MIGA while you have a current insurance policy with MIGA
• If, in the future, you no longer need the insurance because you have ceased private midwifery practice, you may require insurance to cover your prior practice. This type of cover is called 'run-off cover'
• Run-off cover insures you for claims made in the future which relate to incidents that occurred in your prior practice
• You need to maintain run-off cover for the whole time that you have ceased practice in order to be protected against claims that may arise in the future.

For a quick easy read, check out Questions and Answers for Midwives
Now also review the Maternity Care Plan Check list by MIGA; click the link.

Medisure / Mediprotect by calling 07 3426 0400 OR Downloading the Application Form, and either Faxing it to (07) 3426 0444 or Via E-mail to admin@medisure.com.au

This insurance does not have a run off cover, if you want to purchase one it comes at a higher price. Also the amount of insurance cover is less than MIGA, the other difference is eligibility....To be eligible for this cover, practitioners need only be registered as a ‘practising midwife’ with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

Vero/Medisure/Mediprotect is a cheaper insurance with no run off insurance which allows you to be registered with the NWBA and therefore able to continue to work.... it is not as comprehensive as MIGA..... you will have to decide which insurance will be right for you and your practice!

OF COURSE NO INSURANCE COVERS YOU FOR A HOMEBIRTH

GOOD LUCK.......

Ref cartoon: www.legaljuice.com/judge%20funny%20cartoon%20...

National Health (Collaborative arrangements for midwives) Determination 2010

2010-07-22T20:31:00.004+08:00

The day has arrived we know what collaborative arrangements are: here is the document for you to read; I am still absorbing all the information: on the first read I was upset....however after digesting it there is room to move and I am more positive about the whole agreement. It is a difficult paper to read and understand and you have to read it several times to find the areas which we can use to our advantage.....so have a read and then lets discuss our options...click the link

National Health (Collaborative
arrangements for midwives) Determination
20101

4 Specified medical practitioners
For the definition of authorised midwife in subsection 84 (1) of the Act, the
following kinds of medical practitioner are specified:
(a) an obstetrician;
(b) a medical practitioner who provides obstetric services;
(c) a medical practitioner employed or engaged by a hospital authority and
authorised by the hospital authority to participate in a collaborative
arrangement.

5 Collaborative arrangements — general
(1) For the definition of authorised midwife in subsection 84 (1) of the Act,
each of the following is a kind of collaborative arrangement for an eligible
midwife:

(a) the midwife is employed or engaged by 1 or more obstetric specified
medical practitioners, or by an entity that employs or engages 1 or
more obstetric specified medical practitioners;
(b) a patient is referred, in writing, to the midwife for midwifery treatment
by a specified medical practitioner;
(c) an agreement mentioned in section 6 for the midwife;
(d) an arrangement mentioned in section 7 for the midwife.
(2) For subsection (1), the arrangement must provide for:
(a) consultation between the midwife and an obstetric specified medical
practitioner; and
(b) referral of a patient to a specified medical practitioner; and
(c) transfer of a patient’s care to an obstetric specified medical
practitioner.

(3) A collaborative arrangement, other than an arrangement mentioned in
section 7, may apply to more than 1 patient.

(4) However, an acknowledgement mentioned in paragraph 7 (1) (c) may apply
for more than 1 patient.

6 Agreement between eligible midwife and 1 or more specified
medical practitioners
(1) An agreement may be made between:
(a) an eligible midwife; and
(b) 1 or more specified medical practitioners.
(2) The agreement must be in writing and signed by the eligible midwife and
the other parties mentioned in paragraph (1) (b).

7 Arrangement — midwife’s written records
(1) An eligible midwife must record the following for a patient in the midwife’s
written records:
(a) the name of at least 1 specified medical practitioner who is, or will be,
collaborating with the midwife in the patient’s care (a named medical
practitioner);
(b) that the midwife has told the patient that the midwife will be providing
midwifery services to the patient in collaboration with 1 or more
specified medical practitioners in accordance with this section;
(c) acknowledgement by a named medical practitioner that the practitioner
will be collaborating in the patient’s care;
(d) plans for the circumstances in which the midwife will do any of the
following:
(i) consult with an obstetric specified medical practitioner;
(ii) refer the patient to a specified medical practitioner;
(iii) transfer the patient’s care to an obstetric specified medical
practitioner.
(2) The midwife must also record the following in the midwife’s written
records:
(a) any consultation or other communication between the midwife and an
obstetric specified medical practitioner about the patient’s care;
(b) any referral of the patient by the midwife to a specified medical
practitioner;
(c) any transfer by the midwife of the patient’s care to an obstetric
specified medical practitioner;
(d) when the midwife gives a copy of the hospital booking letter (however
described) for the patient to a named medical practitioner —
acknowledgement that the named medical practitioner has received the
copy;
(e) when the midwife gives a copy of the patient’s maternity care plan
prepared by the midwife to a named medical practitioner —
acknowledgement that the named medical practitioner has received the
copy;
(f) if the midwife requests diagnostic imaging or pathology services for
the patient — when the midwife gives the results of the services to a
named medical practitioner;
(g) that the midwife has given a discharge summary (however described)
at the end of the midwife’s care for the patient to:
(i) a named medical practitioner; and
(ii) the patient’s usual general practitioner.

All the above information is taken from the National Health Act 1953 (click the above link for the whole document)

Please feel free to ask any questions

RANZCOG won't come to the table......

2010-07-22T16:25:00.003+08:00

New research suggests that doctors and midwives are poles apart....strangely enough I did not need research to tell me that....but in terms of putting into perspective research is the answer because it is now in black and white.....

Sue Kruske's work shows that....."a survey of 460 midwives, GP obstetricians and obstetricians found that over half of doctors thought they should have the final say in maternity care but only 4% of midwives agreed..... "
NOW THERE IS a surprise...(tongue in cheek)

"On the other hand, over 90% of midwives thought they should be the final decision maker, but only 30% of doctors agreed with this, according to the survey carried out at the Queensland Centre for Mothers and Babies and presented at a maternity services conference in Alice Springs."

“The results showed while there was a widespread [agreement] with the definition of collaboration, there were significant differences in the way this definition translated into practice,” says researcher Associate Professor Sue Kruske, a midwife and child and family health nurse."

"Both groups indicated that they thought the current system did not support collaboration between doctors and midwives. Nearly all doctors respected midwives, but this was not reciprocal, with only 75% of midwives saying they respected doctors.... I wonder if this is because mutual understanding of the role of the midwife is not agreed....doctors do not acknowledge that midwives are the experts in normal childbirth......."

The NHMRC is working as a go between to try to get RANZCOG and the College of Midwives to agree on the referral guidelines.

I see the major difference being that midwives focus on the 'woman' being at the centre of care....where doctors are paternalistic and think they know what is best, despite what the woman wants......

it is interesting to get RANZCOG at the table when they have a position statement that does not support homebirth....so it is clear that they are not willing to compromise......

From November, midwives will be able to access the MBS when working collaboratively.

Ref:No compromise in sight on maternity care
by Jared Reed

2010-07-14T22:13:00.001+08:00

Just a quick news flash - Radio National will feature the story of the Nunavik Innuit local birthing initiative that was so inspiring at the recent Breathing New Life conference. Tune in to the Bush Telegraph program on Thursday, 11am in the west, check your local guides elsewhere in Oz, or check abc online for a transcript.

WA behind with National Legislation for Nurses and Midwives

2010-07-13T22:52:00.005+08:00

Please remember to maintain your nursing and midwifery registration: WA is the only State not to have enacted the new Law: Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009: hopefully we are looking at August for National Registration watch this space........ If you are travelling interstate with the intention of working you will have to register in that State.....like wise nurses and midwives from the Eastern States will have to register here.
Check out Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency website........for more information.......

Pregnancy Babies and Children Expo WA

2010-07-13T21:19:00.005+08:00

Come along to the Pregnancy Babies and Children Expo August 13 - 15 Claremont Showgrounds......

This years Pregnancy Babies and Children’s Expo http://www.pbcexpo.com.au/perth/ is going to be held at Perth’s Claremont Showgrounds, Claremont. The show will be from Friday August 13 to 15 2010. There will be a huge range of parenting, babies and children’s products, and family entertainment. Start times on Friday is from 10am to 4pm. Weekends start at 10am and finish at 5pm. Cost for admission is $12/adults and $8/pensioners.

WA has a winner

2010-07-03T17:34:00.002+08:00

This is the winner of the hotly contested pearl necklace raffle at the Breathing New Life Conference that has just concluded at Alice Springs.

Bev Davis of Bentley Hospital won the $5000 first prize donated by Panda Pearls, who were very popular exhibitors at the trade stands. I'm sure there were many pearl adorned midwives and doctors returning home today!

Proceeds from the two raffles raised a substantial amount of funds for the Rhodanthe Lipsett fund of the Australian College of Midwives, which provides financial support for Indigenous women to study midwifery.

Congratulations Bev. More BNL news soon.

Insurance for Midwives:

2010-06-22T19:38:00.013+08:00

There are several choices for midwives in relation to insurance. If you work in a hospital you will be covered by the hospital vicarious liability, you will however need to find out what that insurance covers:

To practice as a private practice or independent midwife you will need some form of insurance in order to be registered with the Nurses and Midwives Board of Australia. Currently these are your choices:

Option 1
The Government Insurance:
MIGA (Medical Insurance Group of Australia) has won the contract to offer midwives professional indemnity insurance, with support by the Commonwealth under the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Act 2010 and the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Run-off Cover Support Payment) Act 2010. See blog 14 June
MIGA have a News Flash in relation to collaborative arrangements click here to see more....
Further information about Collaborative requirements appears below.

I am interested in securing formal Collaborative Arrangements, but I don't think I can obtain an obstetrician's or a hospital's agreement to collaborate with me before 1 July. Can I still be covered by the MIGA insurance?
Yes. If you are unable to obtain a Collaborative Arrangement for a particular woman, you will still be covered if you communicate a maternity care plan for that woman to a public hospital that provides obstetric services.

Option 2
Vero insurance policy for antenatal and postnatal care only - the agents for this will be Mediprotect http://www.mediprotect.com.au/
The policy will cover activities such as, the provision care and education services, but will exclude birthing. Midwives will be able to choose between two categories for their activities.
The insurance will cost between $1800 - $3010.00 ( cover will be from $1,000,000 - $5,000,000
Information about the Vero policy can be obtained from the Mediprotect website or by phoning Mediprotect on 07 3426 0440.

To be eligible for this cover, practitioners need only be registered as a ‘practising midwife’ with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

Option 3
The ANF is contemplating an insurance option this is still to be confirmed, the best thing to do is to check with your local office....

Watch this space for more information......
Remember there is no insurance cover for Homebirth;

Cheers Pauline

ref for cartoon: www.getmilked.com/.../ThankYouInsuranceMan.html

What does collaboration look like with MIGA

2010-06-14T18:52:00.005+08:00

The Hon Nicola Roxon MP - Minister for Health and Ageing has announced that MIGA has been awarded the contract to be the sole provider under a new Government supported Scheme to provide Professional Indemnity Insurance to privately practising midwives MIGA - the Medical Insurance Group A full time equivalent will cost you $7500.00 per year. (The Australian College of Midwives will also have a competitive insurance so watch this space)

This insurance company has outlined what collaboration will look like: here are the exerts from the document on collaboration to read the whole document click this link;

A Collaborative Arrangement must provide for:
- consultation between you and an Obstetric Specified Medical Practitioner;
- referral of a patient to a Specified Medical Practitioner; and
- transfer of a patent's care to an Obstetric Specified Medical Practitioner.

A Collaborative Arrangement means one of the following types of arrangements:
- a patient is referred in writing to you for Midwifery Services by a Specified Medical Practitioner;

or
- an arrangement in writing between you and one or more Specified Medical
Practitioners which provides for consultation between you and the Medical
Practitioner(s), referral of patients to the Medical Practitioner(s), transfer of a
patient's care to the Medical Practitioner(s) and which is signed by you and the
Medical Practitioner(s);
or
- you have met each of the following requirements for each patient:

- you have recorded the name of the Specified Medical Practitioner who is (or will
be) collaborating with you in your written records;

- you have told the patient that you will be collaborating with a Specified Medical
Practitioner and recorded this in your written records;

- you have an acknowledgement by the named Medical Practitioner that they will
be collaborating with you in the patient's care and you have recorded this in
Your written records (this acknowledgement may apply to more than one
patient);

- you have recorded in your written records plans for the circumstances in which
you will consult with an Obstetric Specified Medical Practitioner; refer the
patient to a Specified Medical Practitioner; transfer the patient's care to an
Obstetric Specified Medical Practitioner;

- you have recorded any consultation or other communication between you and
an Obstetric Specified Medical Practitioner about the patient's care in your
written records;

- you have recorded any referral of the patient by you to a Specified Medical
Practitioner in Your written records;
- you have recorded any transfer by you of the patient's care to an Obstetric
Specified Medical Practitioner in your written records;

- when you give a copy of the hospital booking letter (however described) for the
patient to a named Medical Practitioner, you have recorded the acknowledgement that the named Medical Practitioner has received a copy of the hospital booking letter in your written records;

- when you give a copy of the patient's maternity care plan prepared by you to a
named Medical Practitioner, You have recorded in your written records the
acknowledgement that the named Medical Practitioner has received the copy of
the maternity care plan;

- if you request diagnostic imaging or pathology services for the patient, you have
recorded when you give the results of those services to a named Medical
Practitioner in your written records; and

- you have given a discharge summary (however described) at the end of your
care for a patient to the named Medical Practitioner and the patient's usual
general practitioner and recorded this in Your written records.

I will leave you to ponder on this and comment.....

cheers Pauline

Will you be an Eligible midwife?

2010-06-13T10:57:00.004+08:00

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has submitted to the Ministerial Council for approval: the Registration Standard for Eligible Midwife and Registration for Endorsement for Scheduled Medicines for Eligible Midwives.

What does this mean for the average midwife in Australia?
Requirements
To be entitled to be identified as an eligible midwife, a midwife must be able to demonstrate, at a minimum, all the following:

Current general registration as a midwife in Australia with no restrictions on practice;

Midwifery experience that constitutes the equivalent of 3 years full time post initial registration as a midwife;

Current competence to provide pregnancy, labour, birth and post natal care to women and their infants;

Successful completion of an approved professional practice review program for midwives working across the continuum of midwifery care;

20 additional hours per year of continuing professional development relating to the continuum of midwifery care;

Formal undertaking to complete within 18 months of recognition as an eligible midwife; or the successful completion of:

an accredited and approved program of study determined by the Board to develop midwives’ knowledge and skills in prescribing, or

a program that is substantially equivalent to such an approved program of study, as determined by the Board.

My understanding of the above is that you can be deemed an eligible midwife and give the undertaking that you will complete within 18 months further study for prescribing and diagnostics.

Now we have to wait for the release of the courses that we are to do...those from WA who have already completed the Eligible Midwife program which was four units...should get some RPL (recognition for prior learning).....
Until these units are established it seems that midwives are required yet again to jump through hoops to give continuity of care.....

What does this mean: you will have to have three years experience across the continuum of midwifery before you can become an eligible midwife..... complete your Midwifery Practice Review and have an undertaking do further study within 18 months..... and you need to be insured.....indemnity insurance:

Watch this space!

Cheers Pauline

Great You Tube video.... watch this.....

2010-06-08T01:15:00.002+08:00

"Madre De Muchos" - "Mother Of Many", by Emma Lazenby
great view...let me know what you think

Cheers Pauline

Free Study Session & Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points

2010-06-01T18:43:00.008+08:00

Are you ready for National Registration?
Free Session (2hrs)
Wednesday 23rd June 2010
Curtin University Staff Common Room 405:435

Program

18:15 Registration & Coffee

18:30 - 19:10 National Registration: Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009
– what this means to you as a midwife: Who is AHPRA? Come and find out!

19:10 – 1930 Supper
19:30 – 20:15 Workshop – MidPLUS; Portfolio; CPD; Midwifery Practice Review (MPR)
20:15 – 20:30 Close & feed back

Where: Curtin University: Bentley: Building 405: (School of Nursing & Midwifery)
Staff Common Room 435. Lots of free parking available car park number 24.

Please join us for a free session
Kindly sponsored by ACM Executive WA Branch
RSVP: email: acmwabranch@gmail.com

Please RSVP for catering purposes: Limited numbers first 60 places, confirmation will be via email.

Diversity: Midwifery Celebrations for IMD

2010-05-15T09:11:00.008+08:00

The new ACM (WA Branch) education committee did well with the recent celebrations for International Midwives Day; it was a great success, thank you team. Attendance was good there were about 60 participants and UWA is always a great venue, with superb food. It is always good to see a good turnout of midwifery students, well done.
Our President Tracy Martin opened the day with words of encouragement, her message was about remembering the grass roots of midwifery and to recall why we became midwives. In these times of change we need to remain grounded and stay focused and women focused.

Some of our Postgrade and undergraduate student midwives:

Beth O’Neil who is an accomplished singer, also one of our inaugural Bachelor of Midwifery third year students conducted the next session. Beth said “I love singing, but I am not going to sing to you, I am going to teach you how to sing so we can all sing together” brilliant idea….although I have to say I love hearing Beth sing….she is just magnificent…. However she organized a noisy group of midwives into a chorus of singers…. It was such fun and I had forgotten how well for the soul singing is… so thank you Beth for a job well done…… a most enjoyable session.

Time for a cuppa and a chat:

Next I gave a review of the current political status, National Registration, Bill C and the current position in WA, which is that it has not yet been passed which may result in us not going forward with the other states. Points of note from the National meeting in Canberra were; ACM national membership has increased and WA has a 15% increase, as well as a strong student membership; Online education and face to face teaching will continue and needs to include packages to assist the transition for midwives to eligible midwife; learning packages to include business management for Midwifery Group Practices; indemnity insurance will be provided by the college and will be cheaper for members; lobbying and submissions;

Janice Butt gave a thought provoking presentation about her recent trip to Tanzania, where they have 100 births a day and one woman dies every minute. She also reminded us how we are not meeting The Millennium Goals.……
What are the millennium goals check out this link

Goals 4 Reduce Child Mortality & Goal 5 Improve Maternal Health are the ones that need urgent attention.

Shelly and Karen presented the ACM MidPLUS and Midwifery Practice Review (MPR) made easy..... well they certainly made it look easy...how to navigate the requirements for National Registration by investing in MidPLUS and if you are looking at becoming an eligible midwife you will have to consider doing your MPR.

We then had a rather sobering presentation about refugee women from Afghanistan, and how hard the transition can be from leaving their homeland……the expectation to assimilate to something so foreign to these women…..and how vastly different cultural lifestyles can be…..these sessions are invaluable in helping midwives understand different ways of being…..undoubtedly food for thought.

This was then followed by Sadie’s talk, about drugs and alcohol in pregnancy……addictive listening, her statistics astounded me…. I am aware of the problems but certainly not the extent and across all social boundaries. Sadie also discussed life in prison for women, and pregnant women get no better treatment….. In fact the word treatment is an underestimation of the lack of care that is afforded these women, still human beings; again I was totally horrified that this type of lack of care is so prolific in the twenty-first century, that because the woman is pregnant she is not given or even considered to be worthy of consideration…… well done for bringing this to light and trying to do something about it…..to all that fight these types of inhumane injustice keep up the good work and let the world know what is happening…….. Great work Sadie and team……

The official day ended with a session on Tai Chi….. not my cup of tea… but most people joined in and looked as if they enjoyed it….. For me I took some time out and sat reflecting on the sessions at the river…
The program was as diverse as was the title….. my thoughts were that it was a thought provoking day, looking at what a diverse population we have and how our care needs to reflect diversity, compassion, understanding and tolerance. It also reminded me of how fortunate we are in Australia to have such wonderful maternity care (except if you are in prison)…. Even though it needs fine tuning to cater for the needs all women and that means Homebirth & Midwifery led Care for those who choose it.

The day came to a close with a well earned sundowner…. This is a wonderful time to network and reflect on the amazing day; Happy International Day of the Midwife.

Our new Merchandise

Cheers Pauline Costins

Farewell to Jill Banks....

2010-05-14T20:16:00.012+08:00

We all make decisions to move on for one reason or another, this is our Farewell Jill Banks, our Publicity and Fundraising Officer for the ACM WA... we will sadly miss Jill, as she begins her new adventure with her partner interstate.... it is our sad loss and their gain....

I first in-counted Jill when I went down to the South West for a teaching session and met the manger who was Jill, as we talked we discovered we had a mutual friend... i had not long returned from working in the UK with the mutual friends.... it really is a small world.....our paths continued to cross and when Jill moved to Perth our friendship grew through our involvement with the college.....I will sadly miss you Jill, a great friend, colleague and manager all rolled into one fantastic woman.... and a Northern Woman (UK)at that.....straight to the point, an excellent clinician, with a heart of gold.... oh, not to mention that terrible habit that you have.... "the one that can not be mentioned"...lol... wishing you all the best in your new phase of your life and keep in touch..... Pauline Costins

Just wanted to let you know Jill, that Queensland's gain is definitely WA's most grievous loss. I will miss those dulcet tones on the other end of the phone, and the women of the South have certainly lost a huge ally in their interpartum hours! Still, I hope those Northern women appreciate what is coming to them, and I pray you can achieve even more than you have done in Fremantle.

Wishing you love, light and laughter, Penny Hardy

Dear Jill
You will be sadly missed as a friend and colleague. My earliest memory of you is going 'down the road' from Port Hedland to Point Samson for fish & chips when I thought I may never get back to Perth! I enjoyed sharing your Masters journey with you and have been very impressed by your clinical leadership especially at Kaleeya. It is a real pleasure to work with a Manager who is so supportive of women, students and midwives. You are a 'Yes - can do' person with a great personality. Thanks for all that you do for midwifery - Queensland is gaining a fantastic recruit. Take care and keep in touch - do they have wine in Queensland?
Love Janice Butt

Ah Jill, you will be missed! Dependable, fun, hard-working and always the capacity to surprise (Pardon me!)Laura.

Cheers....Pauline

Happy International Midwives Day 2010

2010-05-04T12:18:00.015+08:00

Here is a video of part of our celebration on the 1st of May 2010 @ UWA - please excuse my voice..... we celebrated in style and had so much fun.... a huge thank you to Beth O'Neil for her expert tuition and guiding us to sing....it reminded me that singing is so good for the soul... it was a memorable exercise and uplifting..... Review of the sessions still to come......also a big thank you to the superb organisation of the education committee.
Enjoy International Midwives Day - "Being with Woman"
Pauline Costins

International Midwives Day was first Celebrated on May 5, 1991.

2010-04-28T23:52:00.003+08:00

This site is well worth having a look at A Celebration of Women..... Find out who is celebrating IMD.... and how...I just love this picture.....

Great news...ANMC appointed as independent Accreditation body

2010-04-28T09:09:00.002+08:00

This is great news... and thank you to all those people who submitted letters, emails etc to their Member of Parliament to ensure that the ANMC did not disappear....
This was a huge error on the part of the profession not to have this body formalised years ago...another lesson learned..... Just to remind everyone the ANMC is a peak body established in 1992 to facilitate a national approach to nursing and midwifery regulation. The ANMC works with state and territory Nursing and Midwifery Regulatory Authorities (NMRA) in evolving standards for statutory nursing and midwifery regulation. These standards are flexible, effective and responsive to the health care requirements of the Australian population.

Tuesday, 27 April 2010
ANMC appointed as independent Accreditation body
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) welcomes the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council (AHWMC) decision to endorse a newly constituted ANMC as the independent accrediting body for nursing and midwifery. Read the full Media Release click here
Here is an example of lobbying working for the right result.....
“This is the result of years of lobbying and work by those in the nursing and midwifery professions who are heartened to see this day has finally come” said Adjunct Associate Professor Moira Laverty.

I am so pleased, because this means all current codes stay the same for a few years....thank God for some common sense....

Update on scheduled medicines..... midwifery

2010-04-28T08:07:00.001+08:00

For your information........

On 1 April 2010 The Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council announced its approval of national health practitioner registration standards in regards to the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the Health Professions. The approval includes standards for scheduled medicines endorsements for suitably qualified and rural and isolated practice registered nurses (RNs). The proposed scheduled medicines endorsements for midwives, provided by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (the Board), has been delayed "pending the outcome of further priority discussions between the Board, and Commonwealth, State and Territory officials." For more information, read the 1 April 2010 Communique – Health Ministers Announce Approval of National Health Practitioner Registration Standards.

Submission: to NMBA for 'eligible midwife'

2010-04-27T22:32:00.006+08:00

This was the WA submission to the NMBA: lets see what comes from this......

Submission from: WA Branch of the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) Executive.
The ACM is supportive of most of the requirements within this document. We have some concerns around the wording in the 2. Practice, continuum of midwifery care… within this document. We have outlined our concerns and points for clarification.

Re: WA Branch Australian College of Midwives’ Response: Endorsement to practice as an Eligible Midwife

1. Registration standard for the endorsement of midwives as eligible midwives.
• Accepted

2. Practice for at least three years across the continuum of midwifery care (antenatal care, intrapartum care and postpartum care of the women and their infants), within the previous 5 years.
• At the entry point of registration in Australia, midwives are licensed to practice across the full scope of midwifery practice and in accordance with the International Definition of the Midwife (2005).
• We are concerned that the 3 year practice requirement is unnecessary, unfounded and excessive it fails to recognise the academic level to which midwives are now being prepared, which will expand further with the implementation of the 18 month program. If post-registration experience must be a criterion, we support a graduate program IF it incorporates at least the same amount of time working in a continuity of care model as working in a hospital.
• There is confusion as to what the three years means; 3 years full time or part time, which is the most common work pattern for many midwives. An arbitrary requirement to book 30-40 women per year is exclusive. Many midwives work part-time and will wish to continue doing so.
• A caseload model of 30-40 women will exclude a number of midwives who could not manage this full time load but might be very keen to offer continuity of care across the continuum for a smaller number of women.
• Is there provision for those midwives who choose to work only with antenatal and postnatal women and refer women to hospitals for birthing, those whose focus is either/both antenatal & postnatal care?
• What exactly is meant by continuum of midwifery care? Does this imply it has to be the caseload model where there is a continuum for a particular woman? Or could it be that a midwife is practicing over the whole spectrum of the midwife’s role but not necessarily on a day to day basis? Does ‘over 3 years’ mean that all spheres of midwifery should be covered in the 3 years and also, is this 3 years of FTE equivalent or 3 years of part time? How part time could it be?
• We are not sure where the evidence for 3 years has come from as we are not aware that this forms any part of the prescribing requirements for midwives in other comparable countries such as UK. We have had a quick look at the NMC site and cannot find any evidence in the regulations that suggests a timeframe. We have also looked at the New Zealand (NZ) model and they are able to work in the community from day 1 of being registered. NZ does have a mentoring program in place for these midwives. (http://www.midwife.org.nz/index.cfm/1,171,html)
• We could accept the completion of one year as a graduate if initial registration is not accepted.

3. Participation in an additional 20 hours per year of continuing professional development relevant to the continuum of midwifery care.
• Additional CPD of 20 hours in addition to the one semester accredited course at PG level also seems excessive. The scope of practice is the scope of practice, midwifery skills are midwifery skills regardless of the work setting and all midwives will need to do 20 hrs CPD, why are eligible midwives going to be different? They will have already completed an extra course and will be required to do MPR.
• We do support the need for a specific course, there needs to be a decision as to whether this would need to be repeated, how is knowledge to be updated for new drugs etc.

4. Successful completion of a NMBA approved professional midwifery practice review program for midwives working across the continuum of midwifery care.
• We accept MPR (Australian College of Midwives)
• MPR should be mandated for all midwives in clinical practice, and if this a requirement, will the fee be subsidised by the government?

5. Compliance with the collaboration requirements for eligible midwives – that is the requirements for midwives to work collaboratively with other health professionals as outlined in regulation and national health policy instruments.
• Collaborative requirements as per Guidance document emphasises that this means equality in professional relationships and not one profession directing another, which needs to be re-iterated in this document
• The definition of collaboration must be re-stated in this and all documents related to this transition, so that the message gets across loudly and clearly that it does not mean midwives may only practice in this model if a doctor or service says they will provide consultation and care if referral is required. (National Guidance on collaborative maternity Care: NHMRC)

6. Successful completion of an accredited and approved program of study determined by the Board to develop midwives’ knowledge and skills in prescribing, or a program that is substantially equivalent to such an approved program of study….
• There is little emphasis on initiation and interpretation of diagnostic tests, which will also be included under Medicare – We think the educational preparation should include this aspect as was recommended in the previous NHMRC Effective options for childbirth document some years ago, which the Enhanced Role Midwife course was based on in WA.
• Will there be a set list of medications (as there is currently for newly qualifying midwives in the UK) or no set list but only drugs that are ‘within the normal scope of midwifery practice’ (as is currently in New Zealand). Whichever is decided upon we think it should include drugs that would be used in an emergency (as listed in the South Australian consultation paper which also includes, for example, Ergometrine, Adrenaline and Magnesium Sulphate).
• Our preference would be that Pharmacology, Prescribing, Screening and Diagnostics unit becomes part of the pre-registration courses so that midwives qualify with these skills, as they do in New Zealand. However, we can see this is very unlikely so a one year post registration is enough of a consolidation to then be able to undertake such a course to be an eligible midwife.
We take this opportunity to thank the NMBA for providing this opportunity to respond and recognise the need for midwives to be experienced across the full scope of midwifery practice. This document reflects the views of the midwives of the profession, and considers the safety of the public in terms of proficiency, wellbeing and knowledge of the ‘eligible midwife’.

WA Branch executive committee
Pp Pauline Costins

Have your say on what the 'Eligible Midwife' will be

2010-04-19T10:24:00.000+08:00

Well here it is the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has released a draft of what 'eligible midwife' may look like.....

The Key points are as follows;
1. Current general registration as a midwife in Australia with no restrictions on practice - having as it does all the requirements for eligibility for registration under the Act.

2. Practice for at least three years across the continuum of midwifery care (ante-natal care, intrapartum care and post-partum care of women and their infants), within the previous 5 years.

3. participation in an additional 20 hours per year of continuing professional development relevant to the continuum of midwifery care.

4. successful completion of a NMBA approved professional midwifery practice review program for midwives working across the continuum of midwifery care.

5. compliance with the collaboration requirements for eligible midwives- that is the requirements for midwives to work collaboratively with other health professionals as outlined in regulation and national health policy instruments.

6. successful completion of an accredited and approved program of study determined by the Board to develop midwives' knowledge and skills in prescribing, or a program that is substantially equivalent to such an approved program of study (at midwifery post graduate level and designed around the flour components of prescribing - information gathering, clinical decision making, generation of medication order and monitoring the review.

As the model of care for eligible midwives is across the continuum of maternity care, eligibility is contingent upon all requirements being met..... therefore once a midwife has been endorsed as an eligible midwife; and authorised and provided with the necessary provider number by Medicare Australia: READ the full document Guidelines & Assessment framework for the recognition & endorsement of eligible midwives

2 Endorsement to practice as an eligible midwife (to read the full document click the hyperlink)

To be entitled to endorsement under section 98 of the National Law an applicant wishing to be identified as an eligible midwife must be able to meet all the requirements including being a currently registered midwife in Australia; being able to demonstrate through professional review of practice at least 3 years experience across the continuum of midwifery care within the 5 year period preceding the application, comply with the collaboration requirements for eligible midwives; and have an approved qualification to administer, obtain, possess, prescribe and supply scheduled medicines required for practice across that
continuum of midwifery care.

Wording to appear on the register
Endorsed as an eligible midwife working across the continuum of midwifery care and qualified to provide the associated services, order diagnostic investigations and administer, obtain, possess, prescribe and supply schedule 2,3,4 & 8 medicines in
accordance with relevant State and Territory legislation, required for midwifery practice.

If you wish to provide comments on this paper, please lodge a written submission in electronic form by email to natboards@dhs.vic.gov.au by close of business on Wednesday 27 April 2010.

PLEASE FORWARD COMMENTS....if you wish please respond to the blog and I will collate the comments for a submission, but you need to add your name to the comments, otherwise they will not be included....... Now is the time to have your say..... get women, mothers, consumers....anyone who is interested in birthing in Australia needs to have a say....this is the future of Homebirth and Private Practice in Australia.....there is a short consulation period so please do it now!

Cheers Pauline

Have you registered?

2010-04-19T09:53:00.000+08:00

Have you registered for International Midwives Day 2010?
Midwifery: Diverse Care for a Diverse Community At UWA May 1st

Register now!
It’s easy - just call ACM National Office (02) 6230 733 or 1300 360 480
and pay by credit card Or go to www.midwives.org.au Or email members@midwives.org.au
6 MidPlus points for attending

ACM Education Committee

Maternity Services Reforms: indemnity insurance - what is it going to cost?

2010-04-18T20:43:00.000+08:00

Maternity Services Reforms
More choice for women – indemnity insurance for midwives
Indemnity insurance - protection for midwives

As you are all aware from July 1st 2010 National Registration starts: this means that Privately-practising, eligible midwives will be able to access Australian Government supported professional indemnity insurance from 1 July 2010. The Dept of Health and Aging has released this document; Maternity Services Reforms
More choice for women – indemnity insurance for midwives;

I am not so sure about the offer......The premium for a midwife in full time practice is expected to be around $7,500 per year, that is $144.23 per week. However this insurance will not cover the planned delivery of babies in the home – for which there is a two year exemption from the requirement under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for midwives to hold professional indemnity insurance. It should be noted that the exemption relates only to the actual homebirth.

I wonder how many hoops midwives have to jump through to be an eligible midwife? I would of thought that after completing the required course to become a midwife you would be qualified to work as a midwife..... but Alas this is not the case in Australia it seems that we have to do even more to obtain the new reforms proposed....they say that....Pregnant women and new mothers will have more choice in maternity care because the clients of eligible midwives with professional indemnity insurance will be able to access services subsidised by the Government through the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

I feel that women will have less choice because there will not be any 'eligible midwives', and I suppose that will suit the AMA.....what happened to fair play? and equal opportunities? Where is the ethics in all of this?.... it seems that ethical principles have gone out the window....

I ask at what price is this privilege coming and by privilege I mean MBS & PBS..... we are introducing another word, phrase, type, description of a midwife... the 'eligible midwife' who is currently the private practicing midwife or independent midwife.... how many of the current private practice midwives will be able to jump through the hoops...and we do not yet know what those hoops are???? if this offer of indemnity insurance is anything to go by... I suspect we are in trouble......

Definition of a Midwife

A midwife is a person who, having been regularly admitted to a midwifery educational programme, duly recognised in the country in which it is located, has successfully completed the prescribed course of studies in midwifery and has acquired the requisite qualifications to be registered and/or legally licensed to practise midwifery.
The midwife is recognised as a responsible and accountable professional who works in
partnership with women to give the necessary support, care and advice during pregnancy,labour and the postpartum period, to conduct births on the midwife’s own responsibility and to provide care for the newborn and the infant. This care includes preventative measures, the promotion of normal birth, the detection of complications in mother and child, the accessing of medical care or other appropriate assistance and the carrying out of emergency measures.
The midwife has an important task in health counselling and education, not only for the woman, but also within the family and the community. This work should involve antenatal education and preparation for parenthood and may extend to women’s health, sexual or reproductive health and child care.
A midwife may practise in any setting including the home, community, hospitals, clinics or health units.

Reference of definition: International Confederation of Midwives

Draft National Guidance on Collaborative Maternity Care

2010-04-16T21:38:00.000+08:00

OK if you want to see what Collaborative Maternity Care might look like.....here it is...
Its time to make a comment....it is time to review the Draft National Guidance on Collaborative Maternity Care: The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has produced this document with input from many sources....it is our turn to comment, what do you think is good, bad, not so good, what needs adding or taking out....public consultation is the time you have to put forward your ideas so take the opportunity to do so.....be proactive...this is our future as midwives....

The current public and targeted consultation period ends on April 27th 2010.

To view the Draft Guidance document and for information on making a submission go to the NHMRC website - www.nhmrc.gov.au - then click on public consultations under the ?quick links? heading.

If you have any questions about the project or about making a submission please contact the NHMRC project team via email: gill.hall@nhmrc.gov.au or phone: 02 62175196

"In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed". Charles Darwin

Cheers Pauline

Have you started your MidPLUS?

2010-04-09T00:03:00.000+08:00

I can hear you saying what is MidPLUS..... well you might just ask that.... I am usually very diligent with maintaining paper base professional portfolio, I always have not sure why some people are just anally retentive about things like that and I am one of them. I am slowly moving to an iPortfolio as well....but that is another blog. What I like about MidPLUS is that it can be both paper or computer base which ever you prefer.....as I am in limbo it is great for me...

What is MidPLUS

MidPLUS is a best practice continuing professional development (CPD) program for Australian midwives. MidPLUS is uniquely designed by midwives for midwives.
MidPLUS aims to help you to plan and participate in CPD activities that are relevant to your learning needs and your midwifery practice or role. In so doing, MidPLUS supports the provision of high quality, woman-centred midwifery care. (ACM)

When you enroll in MidPLUS you receive a Portfolio (folder) and reflective practice guide; planning pro formas; a personal online CPD log; regular updates about quality CPD activities for midwives, and ongoing support to assist you to keep up-to date with developments in midwifery practice. its a great package..... well worth it and the support when you call because you are unsure of how to complete a section was tremendous.

With National Registration and Eligibility looming I wanted to be up to scratch.... ready to go....so that means having evidence to prove I am an eligible midwife.

The challenge for me has been starting MidPLUS, the folder has been sitting collecting dust on my bookshelf, staring down at me begging the question "when are you going to start me and see what I am all about. You paid good money for me - so now put me to good use".
Procrastination is a great thing...... but today I conquered MidPLUS and it wasn't that bad.... in fact I am impressed.. I logged more than the required hours of professional development (CPD) once i started i couldn't stop....and I am going to share how I did that. If you keep it up... that is update every 6 months then it wouldn't take as long....but like anything when it is new it will take a little longer.

Firstly I write all study days, conferences, meetings,reviewing policy, reading an articles, and teaching sessions in my diary. My certificates are usually in my portfolio and reflections stored in my computer. It was a matter of collating all that information into the new format. It was good flicking through my diary for the dates....

There are two ways of logging actives: Active and Passive; attending a study day would be active and reading an article would be passive. You need to complete 30 hours of active CPD in a year, but you know we generally do more than that, this is a way of logging what we do. 20 hours need to be from the Active category and 10 from the Passive range.

First step; login to MidPLUS then scroll down and choose Log an activity - here you will write the description of the activity, date, time and small reflection of what you learnt, then you will log the hours it took - so I will use the Magic of Midwifery study day as an example - the points awarded for the day would be 6 points which is equal to 1 point per hour (not including breaks).... this is the general rule, this would be active; as I was on the education committee and I would be reviewing the presentations I could log that time as passive so I would log 2 hours for reviewing the program and presentations. To validate this activity I would upload the certificate of attendance or the program for the day, I would also upload the minutes from the education committee meetings as proof of my participation.

Another example would be I am asked to review the hospital policy on transferring neonates to the teritary unit. I would log this as active, the time it takes me to review the policy and the articles I read to improve the policy and keep it evidenced based.... therefore this may take me a few hours over several days.... in total 2 hrs a day for a week = 10hrs of active CPD.... I would upload the new policy as evidence of the activity. Remembering that my MidPLUS is totally confidential.

Take the first step and start your MidPLUS.....if you haven't enrolled yet into MidPLUS now is your opportunity...... click here for more information.....go ahead it is well worth the effort....

24 Hour Virtual International Day of the Midwife, celebrate in the comfort of your home

2010-04-08T23:55:00.000+08:00

The count down has began to this great event......
Take some time out and have a look at the 24 Hour Virtual International Day of the Midwife 2010. Come and celebrate with us.... the 24 hour Virtual day has been planned by Sarah Stewart from Otago Polytechnic Education Development Centre (NZ) and Dr Deborah Davis from the University of Technology in Sydney.

I participated & presented last year and found it a brilliant experience.... most amazing was being able to talk to students and midwives all over the world sitting at my desk at home......its a great concept, networking, sharing with like minded people.

What do you need to be part of it....well that's easy, a computer, Internet and Elluminate.... what is Elluminate it is a virtual meeting room, you need to get access to it .....please click here: How to use Elluminate

Check out the times and the program 24 Hour Virtual International Day of the Midwife 2010 - planning page

Go on be daring try something different..... spread the word see you there.

Go Girl Australia

2010-03-29T19:13:00.000+08:00

Cycling for midwives, women, normal birth and breastfeeding
Who is Go Girl Australia you might well ask..... it is someone that you may well know..... Marg Phelan - Midwife

Go Girl Australia
I met Marg in 2003 when she was the was very involved with the College of Midwives (ACM) at state and national level, including a two-year term as National President. "Marg sees pregnancy, labour and birth as a normal physiological process, and believes that for normal pregnancies, homebirth is a safe and enormously rewarding experience. She recently had the honour and privilege to be midwife for daughter-in-law Mei Mei and son Paul during the homebirth of their beautiful boy in December 2008".

Now working in the Darwin Homebirth Service, Marg is able to offer the model of care to which she believes all women are entitled.

Go Girl Australia is a not-for-profit venture that aims to promote continuity of care from a known midwife, normal birth and breastfeeding.

Follow Marg's journey..... see the map..... she will be in WA:
Darwin to Broome (April - June 2010)
Broome to Perth (23 July - 2 September 2010)
Broome to Kalgoorlie (August - mid September)

If you know midwives in these areas please forward them this link and let them know when Marg is there area so that we can celebrate her journey..... and help the cause. Go Girl Go

Want to sponsor the cause click here
Go Girl Australia is a self-funded, not-for-profit venture and its purpose is not to raise funds, but to raise awareness and improve education. There are many ways you can support us.
Join us on part of the ride
Make placards and signs to display as we pass through your town
Organise a get-together for women in your area - Marg will be happy to speak at your event
Sponsor us with donations of cash, fuel vouchers, cycling gear, bike parts, accommodation, food
Advertise Go Girl Australia through your business or community group

Can't wait to greet you in Perth Marg and safe journey......

Midwifery: Diverse Care for a diverse Community

2010-03-23T21:45:00.000+08:00

WA Branch of the Australian College of Midwives presents:

International Midwives Day - Midwifery Diverse Care for a diverse Community:

When: Saturday 1st May 2010

Time: 8.00 - 17.00

Where: The university club of Western Australia,
University of Western Australia, Hackett drive, Crawley Entrance No1,
car park 3

Come and celebrate, with your friends and colleagues, the work of midwives and the
profession of midwifery. Walk in the shoes of a rural midwife, gain some insight into the world of migrant women, obtain practical help with MidPLUS and hear the latest updates from the college. Finish the day and relax with some gentle
Tai Chi followed by sundowner (drinks & nibbles).

• Rural Midwifery - Arlene Manado
• Migrant Women: The Afghan Perspective - Susan Vessey &
Margaret Broadbent
• Having trouble getting started with MidPLUS ? Unsure about
Midwifery Practise Review? MidPLUS workshop -
Karen Kruit and Shelley Gower
• Midwifery Care in Tanzania - Janice Butt
• Meeting Diverse Needs: Women and Newborn Drug and
Alcohol Service - Sadie Geraghty
• Tai Chi - an introduction to the gentle exercise of mind and body
• Live Entertainment and Spot Prizes
• Johnson & Johnson WA Midwife of the Year Award

Please click this link for the application form

REGISTRATION 08.00 - 08.30 Registration includes refreshments & lunch
Sundowner 16.00 – 17.00 Free parking all day

REGISTRATIONS CLOSE
27TH APRIL 2010
Enquires:
PAULINE MOORE 0407 421 191
acmwabranch@gmail.com
To Register
www.midwives.org.au
ACM NATIONAL OFFICE
(02) 6230 733 1300 360 480
FUL DAY COST (GST INCLUSIVE)
MEMBERS $100 / NON -MEMBERS $120
STUDENTS $70 / GROUP BOO KING
(4 OR MORE ) DIS COUNT $10 PP
ACM CPD points apply
*Program subject to change

see you there............for the celebrations

Midwifery workshops......coming up

2010-03-10T22:27:00.000+08:00

Birth International is conducting the following workshops....the workshop is being hosted by the With Woman Collective:

Come on book early.......limited spaces

PERTH WA
Effective Prenatal Education Workshop Dates

Monday May 31 to Friday June 4, 2010
9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. each day

Registration
Registration fee is $750.00. The workshop fee includes refreshments but not lunch (available at many locations nearby). Book display and copies of Andrea's books will be available during the workshop.

Workshop numbers are limited to 20 places, allocated as registrations are received. A pre-reading pack will be sent out to those registered, one month before the program begins. Registration for this program closes on May 4, 2010
To receive a registration form or for more information please contact Penny Hardy on 0406 102 203 0406 102 203 or at withwomancollective@gmail.com

Active Birth Workshop Dates

PERTH WA
Thursday May 27 & Friday MAy 28, 2010
This workshop is being hosted by the With Woman Collective. To enrol in this workshop, please contact Penny Hardy on 0406 102 203 0406 102 203 or at withwomancollective@gmail.com

BUNBURY WA
Saturday May 29 & Sunday May 30, 2010
This workshop is being hosted by the With Woman Collective. To enrol in this workshop, please contact Penny Hardy on 0406 102 203 0406 102 203 or at withwomancollective@gmail.com

More about Birth International here: http://www.birthinternational.com/

Cheers Pauline

Come Join the Celebrations for IMD......Mark your Diaries WA Midwives

2010-03-02T07:58:00.000+08:00

.............2010 International Midwives Day

Midwifery:Diverse Care For a Diverse Community
.............Rural and Migrant midwifery care
................MidPLUS workshop
.................Midwifery Practice Review

coming soon to UWA on Saturday May 1st 2010
.......Good food, Good Company, Great Day
.............details to follow soon

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE INFORMATION

See you there The Education Committee

General Meeting with Barbara Vernon the CEO of the Australian College of Midwives:

2010-02-20T15:26:00.001+08:00

The meeting was attended by approximately 25 members. It was brilliant to see the student representative’s coming to the meeting.... 3 from Curtin and 2 from ECU.
No guesses what we discussed....what everyone is talking about....the new legislation and National registration. Next week is important as three Bills will be presented to the Senate......that is
Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009
Amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 and National Health Act 1953 to: enable nurse practitioners and appropriately qualified and experienced midwives to request appropriate diagnostic imaging and pathology services for which Medicare benefits may be paid; and allow those health professionals to prescribe certain medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Also makes consequential amendments to the Health Insurance Act 1973, Medical Indemnity Act 2002, Medicare Australia Act 1973 and National Health Act 1953.

Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Bill 2009
Introduced with the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Run-off Cover Support Payment) Bill 2009, the bill establishes the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme to provide indemnity insurance to eligible privately practising midwives.
Midwife Professional Indemnity (Run-off Cover Support Payment) Bill 2009
Introduced with the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Bill 2009, the bill imposes the run-off cover support payment as a levy on insurers’ premium income for providing insurance cover to eligible midwives.

Other issues discussed were...Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS)....Prescription Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the run off insurance cover.

The most interesting part of the evening for me was discussing the many options midwives will have from this enormous change to the way we work in Australia.... and not before time.... but I have to ask.... Are Midwives Ready for this Change????

How is MBS going to affect midwives?
....women can be private patients of the midwife...therefore claiming a funding rebate... however not for intrapartum care.
....midwives could be contracted to hospitals for intrapartum care
...midwives could setup their own consulting service for antenatal and postnatal care....we just have to be clever how we do it...

What are the implications for midwives with these changes.....well you can be
........self employed, set up your own practice providing antenatal & postnatal care
........be contracted to a hospital for intrapartum care
........participate in midwifery care
........relinquish the nurse component of your registration
........work in the community

Where too from here?

These are very exciting times.... however.......we need to work everyday on these issues.... determining eligibility, designing MBS rebates.... CPD packages on MBS & small business management, searching for indemnity insurance....

What do you think? are you ready for this?

Welcome to all Student Midwives

2010-02-18T22:07:00.000+08:00

Welcome to the new Curtin post graduate midwifery students.... it’s always great to meet and greet the students on orientation day.... it’s a who’s who of nursing and previous life experience. I particularly like to hear what everyone’s passion is...and inevitably most of the students tell you that they are here because they have always wanted to be a midwife and the other comment has been “I wish they had direct entry midwifery earlier”. You can feel the excitement and enthusiasm in the air... of course there is anticipation and some trepidation as there is with any new path that we embark upon.... we would not be normal if this did not happen.

This is an incredible journey and often life changing....”The student midwife” one of self discovery..... It is often a spiritual journey one which makes some of you think of your own birthing experiences and come to terms with them.... and if you have not had children.... it may lead you to ask about your own birth.... it is a time to really discover who you are..... Because you share a very privileged time in a woman’s life and she is often dependent on your knowledge and support.... it is a time to learn how to truly be “with woman” and often this about knowing, when to be an advocate, educator, counsellor, silent and above all professional in every way......it is about knowing what the woman wants, listening and letting go of your own ego...... it’s about empowering women to make their own decisions....

The midwifery students are from all different areas...rural, SJOG Subiaco and Murdoch, Mercy, KEMH, OPH, AKH, sorry if I have left any out...

“There are precious few times in life when you are fortunate enough to meet people who bring you a truly new perspective on a subject that you thought you knew – people who inspire you to ask different questions and re-evaluate the essence of what you’re doing” Professor Fiona Stanley.

Good luck to you all.... enjoy the journey....

We will be going out to ECU next week so will post the photos when we get them....watch this space.....
Cheers Pauline

National Day of Action

2010-02-15T17:20:00.000+08:00

This is where it's happening in Perth....have any spare time please go along and have your say...... click on this link to find out more.... Our Bodies, Our Babies, Our Rights

Perth- Join Facebook Event Group
Outside office of Melissa Parke
Where: 62 Wray Avenue Fremantle WA 6160
When: Thursday, February 18 from 10:30 am to 11:30 am
contact: daniellesenini@hotmail.com

Cheers Pauline

Here is an interesting artice relating to medicare rebates

2010-02-15T16:58:00.000+08:00

Here is a nice easy read relating to the effects of cutting medicare funded rebates, until last year women could claim 80 per cent of out-of-pocket obstetrics fees after reaching the safety-net threshold. This will change things for both the woman and the obstetrician... and hopefully we will see more women seeking midwifery led care.......Anger over cut to obstetrics

Rebates for private obstetrics fees slashed
Public hospitals swamped by patient demand
Low-risk out-of-area patients turned away

Graduation at Curtin University

2010-02-14T14:27:00.000+08:00

As a midwife and a lecturer it is a really rewarding time to the year.... the culmination of years of study for the students, their graduation day... it is so nice to see them in their regalia, excited, relieved,enthusiastic and awakened. It is a great sense of achievement for them and for me a sense of pleasure that they have completed this journey and graduated. Now the next journey begins.....
Congratulations to all the Postgraduate Diploma Midwifery (27) and Masters (5)Students its great achievement, well done.

The Australian College of Midwives Membership Award was won by Ms Jacqueline Mawson.

King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women clinical Midwifery Prize was won by Ms Maree Edwards.

Now the journey continues, lifelong learning.... for some they begin as Registered Midwives....consolidating their midwifery program into practice facilitating and empowering women during their pregnancy birth journey.....and after a year or two they may embark on the next step... "MASTERS'.

The masters graduates will endeavour to put into place the work they have completed and as leaders they will continue to lead by example...empowering women.. and continue the journey of lifelong learning.

Remember to always 'follow your passion'... maintain your professional portfolio through the Midplus program offered by the Australian College of Midwives and good luck along your paths journey......

The ECU graduation is next week so watch this space for the report.......

Cheers Pauline

Indemnity Insurance a problem globally

2010-02-13T11:15:00.000+08:00

Private practice midwives / Independent Midwives, both mean the same and are used interchangeably. Just to put some issues in perspective this is a global problem and it comes down to money. Why is it we need insurance? ... this is because we live an over-litigious society.

The current situation in the UK....there is no professional indemnity insurance available to Independent Midwives, the bottom line is that they are liable for any negligence claim made against them as is the case in Australia.
The systems are similar between Australia and the UK. Hospital midwives, and Community Midwifery Pogram are covered by the hospital and in the UK by the Trusts therefore covered by vicarious liability through the employer.

Like Australia the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) provided insurance to independent midwives until Australia 2002 and UK 1994. The RCM decided to exclude those members who practised independently from the Private Indemnity Insurance cover, in order to keep RCM premiums at an affordable level. The insurance cover was half a million pounds.....to much to cover... However the UK did still have some insurers that would cover Independent midwives, despite having good outcomes the price still increase to 20,000 pounds per year for a midwife (A$45,000 per year). In 2002 the last commercial insurer withdrew from the market because it was not commercially viable due to the small numbers of independent midwives in the UK.
The UK is considering.... Independent Midwives and Contracting to NHS Trusts....its worth a thought....

Midwives have not had access to professional indemnity (PI) insurance since 2002/03, when Australia faced a medical indemnity crisis that resulted in large premium increases.

Just to add reality to the equation here is a case of negligence that resulted in a payment of $11 million dollars.....

In November 2001 the NSW Supreme Court awarded Calandre Simpson, an infant born at St Margaret's Private Hospital with cerebral palsy, fourteen million dollars (the award was reduced on appeal to eleven million dollars) for the overdose of syntocinon, which caused her birth defects. At that time the award was twice that of the next highest payout. This payout assisted in the collapse of Australia’s largest medical indemnity organisation, United Medical Protection (UMP, now Avant) and brought with it what we know as the ‘medical indemnity crisis’.

From this crisis came the key reforms was the introduction of the Policy Support Scheme (PSS), available to obstetricians, neurosurgeons and rural procedural GP’s.
and off course midwives were not included.... I think we missed the boat here.
Now this is an interesting concept that came out of this....

‘Under the PSS, if a doctor's gross medical indemnity costs exceed 7.5 percent of his or her gross private medical income, he or she will only pay 20c in the dollar for the cost of the premium beyond that threshold limit. In other words, the PSS meets 80 percent of the premium above the 7.5 percent threshold of an eligible doctor’s gross private medical income.

Justine Caines stated....Interestingly the rights of Australian women choosing private midwifery don’t have the same value as those women choosing the services of a specialist obstetrician or a procedural G.P. When I challenged the legal branch of NSW Health with this comment I was greeted with silence.

The Australian College of Midwives continues to lobby and negotiate for possible solutions to this current problem...... so watch this space....

The picture: Laura is my friend we did our Midwifery together at Hertfordshire University.. she is now an Independent Midwife......" midwives have babies too, and I can really empathise with the women I care for now"

Cheers Pauline

Birth - Childbirth as an athletic feat - Wellcome Collection

2010-02-13T10:54:00.000+08:00

Check out the link below.... just click on the title it will take you to the website; it is a 1939 educational film, a class of expectant mothers practise ante-natal exercises designed by Kathleen Vaughn at the London County Council's Paddington Hospital. See the midwives uniform and the exercises.... I do not in anyway recommend these exercises.... I was just sharing a piece of history.. Do you think times have changed?

Birth - Childbirth as an athletic feat - Wellcome Collection

2010-02-13T00:03:00.000+08:00

The WA Branch of the ACM will highlight some pregnancy choices, education / information for women & midwives in WA. We will start with "The With Woman Collective Inc" if you know of other organisations that you would like to see here please email me at acmwabranch@gmail.com and it will be discussed at our next executive meeting.....

The With Woman Collective Inc is a non-profit community group of midwives, doulas, lactation consultants and childbirth educators based in the City of Cockburn, Perth WA. We provide low cost pregnancy and early parenting information and resources to expectant and new parents in our area, and we also facilitate professional development workshops for midwives and other birth workers. For more information about our programs, go to our website http://www.withwomancollective.org/ and click on the picture of baby Lachie.

Thanks Sara

Thank you to the outgoing executive members of the WA Branch

2010-02-04T20:44:00.000+08:00

An enormous debt of gratitude is owed to the out going executive members of the WA Branch. I want to take this opportunity to say, thank you, Merci, Danke, Grazie, Xie xie, Ca’m on, Maita Henyu, to:

Jenny Owen - National Director, Tracey Gilchrist - Treasurer, Debbie Slater - consumer rep, Lesley Nelson - Aboriginal Liaison, Andrea Loftus - Education Officer, Taryn Murphy - Education committee, Alison Thrum - Education committee,

Your willingness, dedication, enthusiasm and passion to the midwives and women of this State are to be commended...Your direction and advice have been extremely beneficial and your invaluable service will be hard to emulate... you have set a high bar for the new executive members to follow.

I might remind midwives, students and members of the WA Branch, that everyone on the executive committee is here in a voluntary capacity which as you know requires many hours of commitment, dedication and hard work. We are constantly looking for new members and or people willing to help the College in some way. If you know someone who wants to volunteer some time, please contact me and I will point you in the right direction.

We are currently looking for a Treasurer..... do you know someone who would be willing to do our books?... working together with a book-keeper.

Once again a big thank you to the out going committee and good luck to the new committee.

The key to our success
rests in women like you,
who embody the spirit of informed choice
by saying, "Every Woman Needs a Midwife!"
Thanks for your inspiring dedication
and tremendous example to women & midwives.

Thank you, Pauline

ref picture:www.ehow.com/how_2257900_say-thanks-different...

What is Twitter: it is instant messaging just like a txt but on the internet

2010-02-02T11:57:00.000+08:00

this is an interesting article.....NEW mother Amanda Williams's "tweet" of her 12-hour delivery - mucus plug and all - should be compulsory reading for all new mothers...... now as midwives you need to beware of how women are using modern technology.... this is a story of how a Geelong woman twittered her labour.....
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/coming-out-is-what-counts/story-e6frfhqf-1225825205357

the Senate Inquiry is out......

2010-02-02T11:32:00.000+08:00

Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009 and two related Bills

The recommendation is that:

1.40 The committee recommends that the Health Legislation Amendment(Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009 with amendments, the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Bill 2009 and the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Run-Off Cover Support Payment) Bill 2009 be passed.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/health_leg_midwives_nurse_practitioners_09_nov09/report/index.htmThere is a minority report by Senator Rachael Siewert, who recommends:

That the Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill is amended by replacing reference to ‘collaborative arrangements’ with a requirement that eligible midwives demonstrate collaborative practice and that in the definition of a participating midwife, midwives would be required to demonstrate ‘collaborative practice’ by using standardised clinical documentation for planning and provision of care. This would record specific indications of collaborative practice, in particular consultation and referral as required, with the consent of the women for whom care is provided.

We will still have to wait for about three weeks before it is discussed due to the cue in front of us...... lets see what happens....

Meet the executive members of the WA Branch 2010

2010-01-30T20:04:00.000+08:00

Tracy Martin has many roles of which one is President of the WA Branch. She is a midwife with over 15 yrs experience in maternity care having recently worked in antenatal care. She is also a member of the Professional Practice Committee at the NMBWA.

Abbey works with women and their families planning to birth at home.
Encouraging, facilitating and supporting women to make choices for themselves and their babies that inspire their culture, their mind and their heart is what moves me to the core. Strong competent human beings rise from such a basic evolutionary process if guarded and treated with the respect birth deserves. Most of the time all we as midwives need to do is be there and believe in her.
Abbey is the Vice President of the College.

Jill Banks became a midwife in Portsmouth UK, since coming to Australia Jill has worked mainly in country areas and is well versed with the issues country midwives encounter. Jill now works in a small metro hospital as a midwifery manager. Jill is the Fundraising and Publicity Officer.

Karen Kruit is the Aboriginal Liaison: a midwife with a passion for holistic maternity care for all women. As a midwifery consultant for Aboriginal Maternity Care, I am pleased to note the intention of the college to expand their support for midwives working in rural and remote health services. This will help to strenghten the professional identity in their local communities and inform women about the benefits of having midwifery led maternity care.

Shelley Gower is the Consumer Representative. Shelley has been involved in maternity related community organisations since 2004. She was Convener of Birthrites: Healing After Cesarean for 2 years and served on the Board of Community Midwifery WA for 18 months. She has recently worked as Project Coordinator for the Curtin University School of Nursing and Midwifery on a NHMRC funded project on women's experienced of pregnancy and childbirth.

Janice Butt has a joint appointment as Coordinator of Midwifdery Education at KEMH and Associate Director of Midwifery at Curtin University. Janice is passionate about the profession of midwifery and is dedicated to the development of midwifery as a independent profession working in collaboration with its medical partners. Janice is a fellow of the ACM and is also currently one of the midwife members on the WA Nurses and Midwives Board. Janice is the Midwifery Education Standards Advisory Committee (MESAC) Representative.

Pauline Costins is the National Director Representative for WA. Pauline is passionate about giving women informed choice about pregnancy and birth options. She is also passionate about passing on information to midwives about their legal, ethical and professional frameworks, her special interests are law and ethics. Pauline is a lecturer at Curtin University in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and also works one day a week clinically and a member of the Network Advisory Committee at the NMBWA.

Terri Barrett is the BHFI representative: Terri is also the Midwifery Director of Statewide Obstetric Support Unit; this unit provides operational support to public maternity services across WA.

Susan Cudlipp is the Community Midwifery Representative: she is a midwife working for CMP and has served on the CMWA Board for 2 years. Susan also has experience of working in Family Birth Centres. She is passionate about women's choices about where and with whom they birth with particularly Homebirth and midwifery led care.

Dr Ravani Chetty is the Education Officer, she is a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Curtin University. She has taught midwifery in South Africa and United Arab Emirates. Ravani also has a joint appointment with Joondulup Health Campus as a midwife-nurse research consultant. Her research focus is adolescent maternity care.

Pauline Moore is a member of the education committee. She is passionate about midwifery and providing women informed choice. Pauline currently works in the Next Birth After Caesarean Section Clinic (NBAC) which assists women to have choice about their next birth after a caesarean section.

Sylvia Jenkin is a member of the education committee. Sylvia is a direct entry midwife from Germany, who has worked in Germany, NZ and now Perth. She is passionate about midwifery, homebirth, waterbirth and providing continuity of care for women. She currently works as a casual midwife who particularly enjoys working in the Family Birth Centre.

Trish Dempsey: Minute secretary: Trish is a midwifery educator at KEMH and holds an adjunct appointment with Curtin University. Trish has worked in all areas of practice including neonatal intensive care. She coordinates the midwifery return to practice programs and neonatal resuscitation assessors program. She is also a member of the Education and Research Advisory Committee and Network Advisory Committee at the NMBWA.

Meet our general secretary Laura Robertson- who is a rotational midwife working across nearly every aspect of midwifery practice. Laura is passionate about working with women to make the most of their childbirth experience,and about working with midwives to make their work fulfilling, ie.offering women a wider choice of place of birth would lead to midwives practicing across the full scope of midwifery practice. Laura is also passionate about midwives maintaining traditional skills through everyday use - a challenge.

'Birth is not only about making babies. It's about making
mothers -strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and believe
in their inner strength." - Barbara Katz Rothman

Capers bookstores presents: Midwifery update workshops

2010-01-29T22:51:00.000+08:00

NEW Midwifery Update workshops in Perth April 19-20. We'd appreciate if you could pass this information on to interested colleagues, as bringing these workshops to Perth does incur additional time and expense so we do appreciate help in promoting them.

Student discounts of $25/day are available, for those not working as health professionals at the time. To claim just make a note when ordering, and you will be required to sign a declaration on the day.

Shea Caplice and Sheryl Sidery will present two one-day Midwifery Update workshops: Using Water for Labour and Birth & Essential Midwifery Skills for Challenging Situations in Perth 19-10 April.

Shea Caplice has been a practising midwife for 27 years in a variety of midwifery models. She was Project Coordinator for the first publicly funded Homebirth service in NSW, and is currently the Coordinator of the Royal Hospital for Women Malabar Community Midwifery Link Service, a service with a particular focus on Aboriginal families.Shea produced the film, The Art of Birth: Four Beautiful Births in Water, and has used her experience with waterbirth in training other midwives on many occasions, and co-writing the chapter on waterbirth in Midwifery: Preparation for Practice (Pairman et al). Sheryl Sidery has been practising midwifery for 24 years both in private practice and in the public system. For the past 5 years Sheryl’s work has focused on how we parent and how women’s past and present experiences can shape her mothering. She is currently the Midwifery Consultant for Perinatal Mental Health and combines this with her private homebirth practice.

Kind Regards,
Sarah
CAPERS Bookstore
PO Box 387
Yarraville VIC 3013
Ph 03 9318 0151 Fax 03 9318 0158
office@capersbookstore.com.au