The NSW Midwives Association is a non-government, not for profit, volunteer-based organisation that provides services to midwives and women and birthing families, as well as a professional organisation supporting midwives in their work. We are the NSW branch of our national body the Australian College of Midwives.

Midwives work in consultation with women and their families during pregnancy, birth and subsequent care for the woman and her baby. As a provider of primary health care, midwives offer services that are relevant, accessible, safe and affordable to the community needs. Midwives practice in a variety of health service delivery models in order to meet the needs of women and their families.

The professional support offered to midwives by the NSW Midwives Association includes conferences and seminars throughout the year, self directed learning packages for midwives in the workplace, refresher packages for midwives re-entering the workforce, a state conference annually as well as links to midwifery associations nationally and internationally. All of these activities contribute to ongoing education ensuring up to date clinical practice by midwives. The NSW Midwives Association also has representatives on a variety of committees within the health system, the education sector and consumer groups.

The New South Wales Midwives Association originated in 1903 as a sub-branch of the Australian Trained Nurses Association (ATNA). Over the years, the association's membership has expanded and it's direction changed.

Since 1978, The New South Wales Midwives Association, in conjunction with Midwives Association in Victoria and South Australia, formed the first branches of the National Midwives Association, Australia. In 1987 the national body became known as the Australian College of Midwives Incorporated(ACMI) and its six state and two Territory Associations, as ACMI branches, have a national focus and through it, membership of the International Confederation of Midwives(ICM).

In 1985, the Association became autonomous when it parted from its nursing parent (RANF).
Since 1991 the NSW Midwives Association has been an incorporated association in NSW, under the Asociation's Incorporation Act 1984. We use the associations incorporation to increase our standing in the business community and to maintain business standards. We are striving to pursue the highest standards of business performance for the Association.

For the past two decades, members of The New South Wales Midwives Association have networked with midwifery colleagues at state, national and international level. More recently, this network has further widened to include colleagues in the medical, nursing and legal professions.

The NSW Midwives Association has had a long-term vision to include consumers into our membership. Following changes to our constitution at a national and state level, we are now able to offer this service to consumers of midwifery care. The Association now also includes a consumer representative position on our Executive.

Midwives Celebrate a New ‘Nurses and Midwives Act’

As of the 1st of August 2004 the Nurses and Midwives Act will officially commence. The NSW Nurses Board will now be called the NSW Nurses and Midwives Bard and a separate register of midwives will be operational. Other changes will now flow from these changes such as the ability of midwives who are Nurse practitioners to call themselves Midwife Practitioners.

For many years now midwives have argued for greater recognition in the Act for midwives and their unique roles and qualifications. The new Act opens the way for midwives who are not nurses, to be registered in NSW. This will have great implications for overseas midwives who are often qualified midwives without a previous qualification in nursing. This will enable NSW to better address the midwifery workforce shortage crisis.

In 2005 the Bachelor of Midwifery will commence in NSW at the University of Technology. This is reliant, however, on confirmation from the NSW Minister for Health that students will have insurance cover through NSW Health. The Bachelor of midwifery graduates will be able to register as midwives without having to have a nursing qualification first, as was the case under the previous Nurses Act.

The Nurses and Midwives Act gives midwives the recognition and distinction they enjoy in many other industrialised countries. The expansion of the role of the midwife is already being realised with models of care where women have a midwife they know provide all their antenatal, birthing and postnatal care. These models of care have been demonstrated to provide safe, satisfying care with reduced intervention rates for women.

Midwives welcome the birth of the new Act. Secretary of the NSW Midwives Association Hannah Dahlen says ‘its been a long gestation but the birth was reasonably smooth and the new arrival has been welcomed with open arms by midwives.’