NSW Midwives Association Annual COnference 17th & 18th October, 2008
Midwives business: Peeling back the layers
Novotel Pacific Bay Resort Coffs Harbour. www.pacificbayresort.com.au

Program & registration available soon

Our annual State Conference attracts over 250 midwives and associates each year and have more than 20 trade exhibitors on display at the conference.  It is a great opportunity for businesses to be seen at such a prominent venue for midwives. We have everything from pregnancy clothing to fetal heart rate monitors. If you are interested in applying for a Trade Organisation display, please click the contact us button on the left.

Press Release from NSW Midwives Association
Announcing the NSW Midwives Association Annual State Conference
Climbing Mountains: Adventures in Midwifery
3rd and 4th August 2007
Peppers Fairmont Resort – Leura

On the 3rd and 4th of August the NSW Midwives Association will host its annual State Conference at the Peppers Fairmont Resort in Leura. More than two hundred midwives from NSW and other States are expected to attend the conference.

Climbing the Mountains: Adventures in Midwifery was chosen as the theme for the conference not just because of its location in the Blue Mountains but because it reflects the immense effort that midwives have put into gaining better recognition for their profession, and the resulting success.

“The conference will be a time for midwives to hear about research and innovations in midwifery practice and the need for them to continue to be politically active,” Hannah Dahlen, Secretary of the NSW Midwives Association said. “There has been a great deal of change in the last few years for midwives with the establishment of more midwife led care, the commencement of the Bachelor of Midwifery, the introduction of a Nurses and Midwives Act, the introduction of credentialing for midwives and recent moves to obtain access to Medicare provider numbers for midwives. Midwives in NSW are now at the forefront of instigating change in the maternity service and are leading the way in innovative models of care.”

The Chief Nurse of NSW Debra Thoms will address the midwives on Friday morning and outline important issues midwives are currently facing in this State. “This will include both the professional ‘mountain peaks’ already conquered and those that remain to be conquered,” said Ms Dahlen.

On Saturday, Professor Sue Kildea from the Northern Territory will address midwives about the issues facing rural and remote Indigenous women, including the impact of the current Australian Government emergency measures to respond to child abuse in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Professor Kildea says, “Midwives currently do, and can, make a positive impact on Aboriginal maternal and child health. It is time the government started investing in primary health care and long-term health outcomes; not just take a quick fix approach to a complex, multifaceted problem. Midwives are ideally placed to be a part of such a response.”

On Saturday, obstetrician Professor Walters, Chair of the NSW Health Maternal and Perinatal Committee, will speak on the caesarean section controversy and how we can reduce the caesarean section rate in NSW. “Intervention in birth is at an all time high with close to one in three women having a caesarean section. There is good evidence that midwifery care can reduce these unacceptable intervention rates,” Ms Dahlen said.

Other papers will be presented on what encourages midwives to stay in the workforce, how midwives can care for women with special and complex needs, such as drug dependency, and how midwives can improve Aboriginal Perinatal Mortality in NSW.

Ms Dahlen said, “That midwives have come a long way in this country in recent years. We now care for the majority of pregnant, birthing and postnatal women in this country. People no longer say ‘what is a midwife?’ they say ‘my midwife is’ or ‘said’ or ‘did’. It has been a long time coming but we can celebrate the fact that midwives are here to stay and everyone knows what we do and how well we do it.”

For information and interviews please call Hannah Dahlen, Secretary of the NSW Midwives Association: 0407 643 943, Caroline Homer, President of the NSW Midwives Association: 0418466974.

NSW Midwives Association Annual State Conference 2006
Sowing the Seeds: Nurturing Growth
Friday 22nd & Saturday 23rd September, 2006
Wagga RSL Club, Wagga Wagga
Another successful conference. 200 enthusiatic midwives attended the conference, many coming from regional areas of NSW.
Mary Moody was the keynote speaker on Friday and introduced us to her perspective of midwifery and childbirth. Mary is a dynamic and engaging speaker and everyone was entranced.
Friday night was the traditional Conference Dinner  - this was held at the Racecourse and most attendees wore a hat that was judged by Mary Moody. The Grand Champion was Nicky Leap. It was a great evening and everyone was able to relax and catch up.
On Saturday Sally Tracy spoke to the conference and was just as engaging and midwifery focussed.
Our overall feedback has been excellent and we now look forward to our next conference in 2007. The dates are August 3 & 4, 2007 at the beautiful Blue Mountains. We hope to see an even bigger crowd.

The NSW Midwives Association's Annual State Conference for 2005 was held at the Hotel Swiss Grand at beautiful Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia.  On October 21 & 22, 2005.
We had a challenging and exciting conference. Jillian Gillard, the shadow Minister for Health, addressed the conference and is supporting the move for Medicare provider numbers for midwives. She has publicly supported the move.
Barb Vernon, the Executive Officer at ACMI, supported the state and wants to work cohesively to show a united front for the profession of midwifery. She is working very hard at a national level to unite our midwives.
On Friday evening there was an opportunity to relax at a drinks function, where great entertainment was provided. Quite a few ended up staying overnight at the hotel at short notice!
On Saturday once again we were challenged as midwives to reflect and also to see our future.
We announced our life member awards. These were awarded to Jan Robinson, Jo Wills, Anne Saxton and Jenny Richardson. They have all had a long and distinguished career in Midwifery and support the work of the NSW Midwives Association.
We held our Annual General Meeting and at the conclusion the new Executive Committee was announced for 2005 - 2007. Congratulations to those who were voted in and a huge thank you to those who nominated. Tis year we had 21 nominations for the 12 positions.
The Annual State Conference for 2006 was announced to be held at Wagga Wagga on September 22 & 23, 2006.

Caroline Homer
I have been President of the NSW Midwives Association since October 2005. It was a great honour to have been elected to this role and I have tried to maintain the high standards held by previous Presidents. In this role I strive to be collaborative, collegial and visionary. I am also involved in a number of other ways with the NSWMA as a member of the Newsletter, History and Archives and Scholarship Committees.
In the past 2 years, my vision has been that the NSW Midwives Association will continue to flourish and grow and that we will be unreservedly acknowledged and accepted as the peak organisations for midwives in this state. I also have a vision of a strong and united national organisation so that midwives can feel supported and powerful all over Australia. I have worked hard at every opportunity to make these visions a reality.
I believe that the NSWMA has a powerful role to play in the provision of woman centred maternity services in NSW. As the peak organisation representing midwives, we have a vital role to play in influencing practice and policy and providing education, information and support to members and others. We cannot do this alone –we are more powerful as an Association than we are as individuals. My commitment is to continue to work towards improving the care provided to women and their babies in NSW by ensuring a strong NSWMA.

Helen Cooke – RN, RM, BHScMan, MNRes, FACM
Project Officer, Fetal Welfare and Obstetric Emergencies Program.
I have been a member of NSWMA for 18 years and have been part of the Executive Committee for over 5 years. Currently I am the treasurer and have been looking after your professional investments for the past 5 years.
I am strongly committed to providing the best possible services for members within the available budget and continue to strive to spend our money wisely keeping membership financially affordable.
As part of the executive I have the opportunity, and am committed to the promotion of midwifery as a profession in it’s own right, and to the ongoing improvement of midwifery standards that ensure safe midwifery practitioners who can offer women the safest and most rewarding levels of midwifery care in a variety of settings.

Heike Roth
I am currently enrolled in the second year of the Bachelor of Midwifery programme at UTS and have been the student representative on the NSWMA Executive Committee for the past 6 months. This opportunity has been a very inspirational experience and presented me with invaluable insight into the various facets which shape the midwifery profession. In my previous ‘life’ I worked in marketing, events and communications management for a variety of international.
As a student representative I would like promote NSWMA student membership and regularly inform students of current developments within the profession. I encourage students to contact me with ideas or concerns they would like me to be raised during Executive Committee meetings. Ultimately, I envisage a project where a platform for midwifery students across NSW will enable them to communicate amongst each other. This could potentially open doors for exciting future friendships and possibly even business relationships based on common visions and philosophies.
My career change has been a refreshing and exciting challenge. Combining midwifery with my previous work experience would enable my role as a NSWMA student representative to cater for a strong student voice.
Thank you for considering my re-nomination as a student representative on the NSWMA Executive Committee for the coming year.

Ann Grieve
I have given a lot of thought to standing for election to the Executive Committee of the NSW Midwives Association again this year. I believe thjat I have the accumulated skills and knowledge to assist the Association to further its goals and those of midwifery in this state. My work experience is varied including metropolitan and rural hospitals and isolated areas in the devloping world. I am currently a member of the Association’s Professional Development Committee, the Financial Advisory Committee and convene the Constitutional Review Committee. Additionally, I am a member of the ACMI Constitutional Review Committee and the Fellowship Committee.

Suellen Allen
I have been a midwife since 1991 working in various clinical, education and consultant roles and previously as the Policy Adviser at NSW DoH. These positions have provided experience in professional midwifery, strategic maternity service planning and policy development at state and national level. I am currently a full-time PhD student at UTS.
I believe the NSWMA requires a solid consistent strategic framework and governance structure to ensure a progressive and contemporary approach to represent the position of midwives and midwifery. Should I be re-elected I will continue to participate in activities to strengthen the NSWMA position in these areas.

Moira Williamson
I have worked in the midwifery since 1978. During that time I have been employed in a number of clinical, educational and managerial positions with in the public health sector. I was admitted to the Australian College of Midwives as a Fellow in April 1997. I have been the coordinator of the Master of Science (Midwifery) program at the University of Wollongong since mid 1996.
I have been an active member of the NSWMA for 20 years and executive member since 1996. I have also been a member Professional Development Committee (previously known as the Research and Education sub-committee) for this length of time. I have represented the NSW Midwives Association on various NSW Health Department and other relevant committees. I also convene the Scholarship Committee and look forward to receiving and reviewing applications every year.
Being a member of the executive committee allows me to keep up to date with all issues relating to midwifery practice and the midwifery profession. This allows me to actively reflect this knowledge into my professional life as a midwifery educator.
If elected to the NSWMA executive for the next term of office I will continue to work for the benefit of the members of the NSW Midwives Association. Midwifery is continually on the move and midwives voices through the NSWMA will continue to be heard for the benefit of the profession and the women we care for. I will continue to strife with my fellow executive members to be advocate for women at all levels of government to ensure childbearing women and their families are provided with choices that meet their needs.
On a personal note, I am employed on a full time basis, and in my spare time I am currently endeavouring to complete a PhD. My son has just commenced a university degree and I am trying to let go and not keep asking about due dates of assignments etc (he is not amused). I also do the occasional casual shift at Shoalhaven Maternity unit to keep me ‘grounded in midwifery practice’. It is a small regional unit and all the midwives cover all aspects of care. I enjoy working with the midwives (a fantastic team), the mothers and their babies. I look forward to the future challenges of being a member of the NSWMA executive if re elected.

Sally-Anne Brown
Sally-Anne is a rural midwife, mother and activist for maternity services reform based in the Blue Mountains. Her work over the past 15 years includes campaigns to reclaim ‘midwives insurance’ ‘medicare for midwives’ and ‘bring birth back home to local communities’. Sally-Anne is currently completing participatory action research as part of the Doctorate of Midwifery program at UTS, based on her work with women from remote rural Victoria who have reclaimed birthing in their local community following the closure of their maternity services in 1999. She is passionate about advancing midwifery and believes the time is ripe for successful negotiation at a political level. Her experience in psephological processes includes co-ordination of elections and standing as a political candidate to advance midwifery. Sally-Anne does ‘walk her talk’. She understands the success to advancing midwifery is about engaging women and midwives to actively participate in reclamation from the ground up. She has served on community based and ministerial appointed steering committees and is currently the ACMI representative for the Specialist Obstetrician Locum Scheme national advisory body. Sally-Anne’s unique professional, campaigning and electoral experience will significantly contribute to the further success of the association’s aims; as with birth …….are now within sight.

Hannah Dahlen
I have so enjoyed being a part of the Executive Committee of the NSW Midwives Association. Every year I find the words, ‘should I stay or should I go?’ humming around in my head. I reflect on the good and bad times during the years that have gone by and realise the reasons I stay are threefold. Firstly, I am passionately committed to making midwifery the lead option of care for childbearing women in this country. Secondly, I have learnt so much in my role on the Executive, especially regarding politic activity, that I feel I can offer even more than I could before. Thirdly, I still enjoy the challenge this role presents more times than I don’t enjoy it! So, as I re-nominate for the sixth time I will let you the membership decide- ‘should I stay or should I go?’

Joanne Gray
I am currently the Vice-President of the NSW Midwives Association and I have been a member of the executive for 2 years. I am a member of the Conference Committee and the Professional Development Committee. I have thoroughly enjoyed playing such an active role in the Midwives Association and I have learnt so much from working with and for midwives in NSW.
My full time position is with the University of Technology Sydney as Director of Midwifery Studies, and the coordinator of the Bachelor of Midwifery. I also continue to practise as a midwife on a casual basis at Royal North Shore Hospital. I would love to continue to be involved in working with the midwives in NSW through the NSW Midwives Association to support the changes to maternity services and midwifery practice that are so important for women and their families.

Lyn Passant
I am currently employed at Camden and Campbelltown Maternity Units as a CMC. Originally I was employed to help introduce midwifery group practices (MGP) at both units. We now have two MGP up and running both with great outcomes.
I am very passionate about midwives and other health care professionals working together to provide women with the best possible care either in the hospital or the community.
The profile of midwifery growing however there is still lots to do. I feel the best place to help achieve this is at the NSW midwives association. Becoming a member of the Executive Committee recently was initially daunting however, I am becoming more effective and wish to expand on the work of the association.

Pat Brodie
In my current employed role as Professor of Midwifery Practice Development and Research in Sydney South West Area Health Service through UTS I am engaged in multiple strategies designed to increase the utilisation of midwives as primary carers and enhance continuity of care. Over the past 10 years in particular, I have contributed to policy leadership to ensure that contemporary maternity services involve a broader focus than simply the acute services based in hospitals. I am passionately committed to strengthening midwifery through improved education, regulation and addressing the current workforce crisis. I value the opportunity to continue my contribution as a director on the Board of the College as we progress the large volume of work we have in progress.

Shea Caplice
I have been a practising midwife for over twenty five years and throughout my career I have been integrally involved in the politics of the midwifery profession through NSWMA. I have been a member of the NSWMA executive for around 6 years and would like to continue to represent you on the executive. I consider my extensive clinical experience within a variety of midwifery models an asset to the work of the executive and I look forward to completing the office refurbishment which will bring the Association into line with its corporate identity. I am excited to be part of a motivated and committed organization.

Rosalee Shaw, Midwifery Consultant, Hunter New England Health
I have been a midwife for a long time.
I have spent my career working in Newcastle and other parts of the Hunter Valley, and now am involved in the larger Hunter New England area.
I have a clear vision of the future of maternity services, and the midwifery profession.
I see strong confident midwives, - educated, responsible, accountable and with clear professional roles.
This vision sees birthing at home, and in small communities with midwives leading. My vision sees birthing networks with links to district and tertiary referral centres, with midwives and obstetricans in collaboration.
I want to end my career having made a difference for midwifery and the women we are with, and for me, part of making a difference is by making a contribution to our professional body - NSWMA.
I firmly believe that NSWMA will play a key role in the future of midwifery.
That's why I drive the 4 hour round trip for meetings !

Birth Without Intervention: What are the Chances?
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/321/7254/137

Roberts CL, Tracy S, Peat B. Rates for obstetric intervention among private
and public patients in Australia: a population based descriptive study. BMJ
2000; 321: 137-141

ABSTRACT
Objective: To compare the risk profile of public and private obstetric patients and, among low-risk women to compare obstetric intervention rates.
Design: Cross-sectional analytic study.
Setting: New South Wales, Australia.
Population: All 171,157 women having a live baby during 1996 and 1997.
Main outcome measures: Risk profile of private and public patients; overall intervention rates and the cascade of interventions by both patient and hospital classification (public or private). Interventions included epidural, augmentation or induction of labour, episiotomy, forceps, vacuum or caesarean births.
Results: Among women choosing private obstetric care and those receiving standard public hospital care, overall the frequency of women classified as low-risk was similar, 48%. Among low-risk women, obstetric intervention rates were highest for private patients in private hospitals, lowest in public patients, with intermediate rates for private patients in public hospitals. Among primiparous women 17% of private patients in private hospitals achieved a vaginal birth without any intervention compared with 40% of public patients. For multiparous women the rates were 37% and 66% respectively. Private patients were significantly more likely to have interventions prior to birth (epidural, induction or augmentation) but this alone did not account for the increased interventions at birth, particularly the high rates of instrumental births.
Conclusions: The chance of birth without intervention is low for women who choose private obstetric care. Women should have equal access to quality maternity services, but information on the outcomes associated with the various models of care may influence their choices.