Australian Maternity Services Review

It's exciting times. The Federal government is conducting a review of maternity services. I know we have had 41 reviews around Australia all saying the same thing. This is different. Nicola Roxon is fully committed to primary health care and committed to ensuring Australians have health services that really are about health, not just illness, sickness or for the aggrandisement of one professional body.

There is a huge groundswell of change, with midwifery models of care being shown to be safer than other models for healthy pregnant women.

See this latest Cochrane Review of Midwife-led versus other models of care for childbearing women.

http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004667/frame.html

Conclusion: All women should be offered midwife-led models of care and women should be encouraged to ask for this option.

It would be fantastic if people got together and wrote joint submissions, or wrote their opinions of what is needed for optimal care for women and their babies.

The link for the review terms of reference is:

http://www.health.gov.au/maternityservicesreview

Exciting times indeed.

Carolyn