Wimmera Health Care Group will re-launch an outpatient midwives clinic for pregnant women from July – providing antenatal midwifery advice to all maternity clients, Chief Executive Chris Scott said today.
Mr Scott said the Team Midwifery Program is currently moving to a more effective model to allow the service to be offered to more women.
The program cares for about 10 percent of the women who give birth at Wimmera Health Care Group each year - with the remainder receiving care from the mainstream maternity service.
“We understand that midwifery is a service very close to the hearts of many women and families in the Wimmera and we appreciate the groundswell of support.
“Our midwives are one of our most valuable resources and we are keen to offer their expertise and services to a wider audience.
“At present, only 40 out of around 360 births are assisted by the Team Midwifery Service,” he said.
Wimmera Health Care Group’s long-term plan is to create a multi-team midwifery continuity model that will cater for all mothers and newborn babies in partnership with a skilled obstetric medical team.
To achieve our goal of transitioning to a more effective model we have to address issues such as untenable workloads for midwives, changes in healthcare policy and legislation and changing community needs.
“Our plan is to spread our continuity of care ethos across our entire maternity service.
“The new model will comprise ward-based maternity services for birthing and post natal care ably supported by two specialist Obstetricians and the two experienced General Practitioner Obstetricians.
“Our Director of Clinical Services and the Director of Medical Services will be working closely with all our maternity staff to ensure high quality care, without interruption.
“We put a lot of time and effort in planning and developing all of our health services and this is indicative of the important role of Wimmera Health Care Group in the communities we serve,” Mr Scott said.
The team midwifery program commenced in 1994. It was one of the first programs of its kind in Victoria and was the first continuity model of maternity care to be endorsed by the ANMF Nurses Union.