The Face of Birth - A teaser

Come and join us at the Health Dept for the viewing of The face of birth..... lets make some changes.....see details on the previous post.

The Face of Birth - 20th March 2012

WA Branch of the ACM is hosting a showing of "The Face of Birth"

Calling all midwives and women who live in WA and would like to see this movie: The Face of Birth will be screened in the theatrette at the Dept of Health - Refreshments will be served prior to viewing.
"Scientific evidence shows that how we are born has a huge impact on our health and happiness - as babies, children and, for some of us - for the rest of our lives.
Home birth mothers believe that they are making the best and safest choice for themselves and their babies. Mainstream medicine in Australia, unlike the UK, thinks otherwise.
This is a film about families that choose to give birth at home, the midwives and health professionals who support them and a system that works against them".

DATE: 20 March 2012

TIME: 1800

COST: $20.00 pre-purchased tickets (internet details coming soon)

Door Tickets - $23.00

PLACE: WA Department of Health
189 Royal St, Perth, WA 6004

RSVP:to confirm attendance for catering and theatrette size please email acmwabranch@gmail.com

RANZCOG - Please give feedback - Collaborative agreement for midwives

RANZCOG has developed a template for Collaborative Maternity Care Agreement between Eligible Midwife and Specialist Obstetrician or General Practice Obstetrician for use by Specialist Obstetricians or GP Obstetricians and Eligible Midwives.

It is very important to give your Feedback.

It is acknowledged that the template agreement will not be suitable for all settings and that not all Obstetricians will wish to enter into a collaborative arrangement, but all comments will be considered.RANZCOG

Please send feedback to Rupert Sherwood by email to ganderson@ranzcog.edu.au or by fax to +61 3 9419 0672.

Sending your response is important, this is how your voice and numbers count, please be proactive, read the document in its entirety... and give your feedback.

Sydney Conference & AGM 2011

life has been so busy that I have finally have time to play catch up with the Sydney conference October 2011 - The conference was action packed in more ways than one: WA had a large contingent, some of us took the opportunity to have extra time off and see the sights of NSW.



What I love about conferences is meeting up with new and old acquaintances across the country.... and the world.



The keynote speakers were remarkable in particular for me was Sheena Byron, whose stories resonated with me.



The new flavour of the conference was the creative arts.... the yarning table was also a highlight of mine, as it gave you the opportunity to stop, relax, knit, sew and talk, chew the fat so to speak....The low of the conference was the small protest relating to 'women's right to choose place of birth no matter what the risk and be supported by a midwife'.... Midwives need to be supported from a regulatory / supervision model to enable us to do this...as legislation currently stands in Australia midwives are not supported to look after anything other than low risk for a homebirth.



The conference dinner was real hoot, red and black was the theme and most of the WA group all wore tiara's.... it was fantastic talking, dancing and meeting new midwives from around the country....a good time was had by all.



The organising committee did a great job... thank you: The next conference will be in Tasmania.....start saving....see you all there.

As much time is passed since the conference there will be a pictorial slide show in lieu of a summary, my apologies for that.

Cheers Pauline

Homebirth Position Statement

My apologies for not posting the new ACM Homebirth Postion Statement earlier; the college has worked very hard to meet the needs of both midwives and women:

The Position Statement on Homebirth Services 2011 has been developed utilising broad consultation and a Review Panel (eligible midwives, privately practising midwives, midwives working in public homebirth models and midwifery academics) considered all submissions. It should be read in conjunction with the Guidance for midwives regarding homebirth services 2011.

Position Statement on Homebirth
Guidance for midwives regarding homebirth 2011
Homebirth literature review