Looking forward

From time to time I have taken the opportunity on this blog to write about the complex and often challenging position I and other midwives have found ourselves in as we work through and apply government 'reforms' and changes to our practices.

Now, at the end of the first week of January 2012, I want to summarise my position as a midwife, attending individual women for birth and associated prenatal and postnatal care, and what developments I expect and hope for in the coming year.

Firstly, on the positive side of the ledger:

• Babies are being born, and thriving - beautifully.
• Women are being transformed in the process of giving birth.  That's a wonderful thing to witness.
• Collaborative arrangements are being set up with a couple of supportive GP-obstetricians, who are happy to give women referrals for the midwifery services they choose.
• Collaborative arrangements are being set up occasionally with obstetricians, after the woman and baby have been discharged from hospital, enabling one-to-one postnatal care for the woman.
• Medicare rebates are being paid to women who use the services of participating midwives.
• I am happy to bulk bill additional antenatal and postnatal visits, which continue until the baby is 6-7 weeks old.

On the negative side of the ledger:

• Some public hospitals at which women make homebirth back-up bookings are refusing to acknowledge the collaboration in the way that has been spelt out in the legislative determination, in that there is, for example, no provision for a 'specified medical practitioner', who is "a medical practitioner employed or engaged by a hospital authority and authorised by the hospital authority to participate in a collaborative arrangement.", or any acknowledgment "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" ...   
• Midwives eligible for Medicare are required to sign an undertaking to complete a course in pharmacology within 18 months, yet there is no such course accredited.  
• No midwives have access arrangements to privately attend women admitted in hospitals.  This means that women who choose to give birth in hospital, with their private midwife in attendance, must accept the hospital's employed midwife as the leading midwife at the time of the birth.  This situation can lead to unnecessary conflict.
• There is no insurance product to indemnify midwives attending women privately for home birth.  The government has exempted midwives from the requirement until 2013, and we don't know what (if?) plans are afoot to rectify the situation.

Logically, indemnity insurance does not change outcomes - it simply provides a pot of money that can be fought over in the law courts, should there be an adverse outcome.   I consider the only solution to the insurance problem is to set up a no-fault compensation scheme, to which all health professionals contribute, which provides a suitable level of financial support to those who suffer disability or loss, separate completely from the apportioning of blame.

Midwives who face regulatory or coroner's inquiries into incidents in which they were involved are being advised to obtain legal representation.  While ideally a professional should be investigated by peers, it seems that the process of investigation into conduct is becoming increasingly formalised, with inherent costs and isolation of the practitioners.

I have recently accepted a role as Vice President in Australian Private Midwives Association (APMA), which represents private midwives nationally.  I have been a member of this organisation, and have written and edited the APMA blog for the past couple of years.  It is a privilege for me to work alongside the President Marie Heath and the other committee members.  Keep an eye on that blog if you are interested in the national private midwifery scene.

I continue my involvement in Midwives in Private Practice (MIPP), which represents midwives practising privately mainly in Victoria.  See the MIPP blog.  MIPP is a participating organisation in Maternity Coalition (MC).  The concept of partnership between the woman and the midwife is carried through into the relationship between MC and MIPP. 

There are plenty of challenges to keep me busy in the midwifery profession broadly, as long as I have the (physical, mental, spiritual) strength to continue my practice.  I enjoy consulting with women and attending them professionally in their homes, mentoring  other midwives, giving lectures to midwifery students at Deakin University School of Nursing and Midwifery, and my involvement in the Professional Development Unit at Deakin.

Family and home responsibilities keep me busy, and my beautiful grand-children remind me of the every-changing needs of our most precious resource.

Thankyou for your comments