New Pricing Level for MIGA Insurance

MIGA have announced a new pricing level for midwifery indemnity insurance. This price level was created in response to midwives requesting a lower premium for part time practices. While the premium is still out of the reach of midwives only attending a few women a year - it does make the product more affordable. 

The next step will be to see if they change the way they calculate the premium which is currently based on a 'per woman' basis. At the moment if I see one woman from the beginning of pregnancy through to 6 weeks after the birth - that woman is counted as one but if I see one woman for one postnatal visit (for example) - that woman is also counted as one. So 40 postnatal visits would be counted as 40 woman and the maximum premium needs to be paid. The way the Department of Health and Aging set the way insurance is structured for midwives doesn't reflect the way midwives work.

Have you experienced a third or forth degree tear?

If so, I would love to hear your story. Your experience following a third or fourth degree perineal tear following the birth of your baby or babies, will help with research so we can assess how the health care system can best care for all women who experience this complication following childbirth.

For further information please contact Holly Priddis (Midwife, PhD Candidate and Researcher) via email h.priddis@uws.edu.au or phone/text 0438 731 816.

Birth Stories Competition

We are excited to announce Pregnancy Birth and Beyond's 'Birth Stories Competition'. Everyone loves reading birth stories, stories about fast labours, slow labours, wonderful stories, sad stories, births at home, hospital or birth centre. We'd like you to send us your story. If you have photos of your labour, birth, baby or the new family that help illustrate your story we'd love to receive those as well. The best three birth stories will receive the prize. Selected birth stories will be published on this website.

We have three copies of this gorgeous keepsake for Australian children, the Limited Edition, Heritage Presentation of Animal Tales Series by Susan Hall and illustrations by Ben Guy to give away. The boxed set contains 4 individual hard cover books, 52 pages each. The National Library of Australia Publishing (NLA Publishing) is offering this highly successful Animal Tales series as a limited edition heritage presentation. A gorgeous keepsake for Australian babies and children!

To enter visit the "Birth Stories Competition" page of www.pregnancy.com.au 

Supporting women in Public Hospitals after a homebirth transfer

This last fortnight has been quite stressful. It started with a report that a midwife had been reported for supporting a women in hospital who she gave a hot pack. The charge was she'd been practising midwifery without insurance. Then came a communication from MIGA (the insurance company) essentially saying that if a midwife stayed with a women after she transferred to hospital they would be in breach of their registration. This was shortly followed by a communication from the Australian College of Midwives basically saying the same thing. Yesterday sanity prevailed - Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency released a document clarifying this issue. You can find the official documentation on this page of AHPRAs website. Yes we can stay with a women who is admitted as a public patient as a support person. However the question of what constitutes midwifery care remains.

First baby to be born at Orange Aboriginal Birth Centre

I had the pleasure of visiting Murundhu dharaa birthing centre at Orange last month. It is a wonderful facility. Here is a news report of their first birth at the centre.

International Midwives Day

Today is International Midwives Day and I had nothing special planned. The day has been punctuated with messages wishing me happy International Midwives Day. It has been wonderful and makes enjoy even more being a midwife. Our local homebirth group "Homebirth Access Sydney" has just sent me a bunch of flowers - I feel overwhelmed and very lucky to receive such support and well wishes from the homebirth community.

I'd like to wish all the midwives across the world a very big "Happy International Midwives Day".

Love Jane xxx

Free tickets to Babies: The Movie

Last chance to be in the draw to win double pass tickets to Babies: The Movie. Details below. Entries have to be in by 9am on tomorrow 2nd of May. Visit bit.ly/jMd94s for details.