Important Annoucements

Natioanl Maternity Services review

The federal government has announced it’s intention to develop a national maternity services plan to improve care for women and their babies.  As the first step in the development of such a plan, the government has released a discussion paper inviting comment from stakeholders by 31 October 2008. 

The paper and more information about the review can be found at www.health.gov.au/maternityservicesreview

For a copy of the College’s media release in response to the discussion paper being launched on 10 September click here

Cochrane Collaboration

The Cochrane Collaboration has just published the findings of their systematic review comparing midwife-led models of care with other models of care for childbearing women and their infants.

The Author’s conclusions found that ‘all women should be offered midwife-led models of care and women should be encouraged to ask for this option.’

Some background to the systematic review:

Midwives are primary providers of care for childbearing women around the world, however, there is alack of synthesised information to establish whether there are differences in morbidity and mortality, effectiveness and psychosocial outcomes between midwife-led and other models of care.

To read or download this review, please click here