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

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

WA Branch Executive Committee 2011

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

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

A farewell tribute to Barb Vernon

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:

Yeah AHPRA coming to the party; Good News;

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............

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

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

Curtin Graduation: Nursing and Midwifery: 2010

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:

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....

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

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

Invite to mums, dads, bubs and midwives.

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

Have you registered?

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

Have you started your MidPLUS?

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....