May 06, 2003

Mansfield Victoria

Mansfield, Victoria to day. This is a rural area, almost right in the middle of the State and is close to the ski fields and the wine producing areas. Not that I will be involved in either of those activities, since I am here to present an Active Birth workshop. I love meeting midwives from rural areas - they are often such strong women, versatile and confident, all attributes that develop from experience, multi skilling (many will also work as nurses when needed in these small units) and close working relationships with colleagues.

There will be some students in this group as well, some of the lucky group who are enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Midwifery offered by Monash University. This course utilises the small rural country units for the practical components and the students therefore get a lot of hands on experience with the help of the local midwives. They will see a lot of normal births as well, being away from the big city teaching hospitals and small communities offer better opportunities for getting to know the women.

There is a push to close these small rural maternity units, many of which will have fewer than 200 births each year, in the name of consolidation and centralisation of resources. There is also talk of creating “centres of excellence” with better facilities and readily available expertise.

It seems back to front to me - smaller units offer a personal service that women want, close to their families and with known caregivers. Big, efficient, impersonal hospitals, miles from home, may be acceptable for those few women who have genuine problems, but the rest should be able to have their babies in their own communities. Another compelling reason why we need to get NMAP adopted so that women will have genuine choice rather than enforced medical care.

Posted by andrea at May 06, 2003 06:46 PM

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I couldnt agree more! smaller units do give students excellent opportunities in attending normal births, and of course, the women who give birth here will probably know their midwives, and receive good one to one care. Also, closing down small units may mean having to travel further for these women when they are in labour, or having to wait longer for the midwife to arrive, not a good thing.

Marit

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