National Maternity Action Plan (NMAP) Table of Contents

Table of Contents (NMAP)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Glossary
Executive summary & recommendations			5
1.	Introduction		9
2.	The case for reform of maternity services		9
	2.1	Australia’s comparatively high intervention rates	9
	2.2	Failure to match international best practice	10
	2.3	One-to-One continuity of midwifery care lowers intervention rates	12
	2.4	Benefits for Indigenous women	14
	2.5	Benefits for socio-economically disadvantaged women	12
	2.6	Benefits for women in regional and rural areas	15
	2.7	Limited access to one-to-one continuous midwifery care	16
	2.8	Benefits to consumers from enhanced choice in maternity services	16
	2.9	Community midwifery care is cost effective	17
	2.10	Midwifery-led care as a medium term solution to the indemnity crisis	18
3.	The Principles and Practice of Community Midwifery		20
	3.1	Principles of community midwifery care	20
	3.2	Community Midwifery Programs	21
	3.3	The WA CMP: A successful model	22
4. Maternity services policy reform			23
5. Implementing Community Midwifery Programs			26
	5.1	Funding	27
	5.2	Workforce Issues	27
	5.3	Extended education	29
	5.4	Professional standards	29
	5.5	Timeframe	30
6. Conclusion			31
7. Appendices			32
	A	Government inquiries into maternity services	32
	B	Comparison of Costings for standard hospital maternity care with community midwifery models of care	34
	C	Examples of existing programs offering some level of Midwifery-led care	40
	D	Organisation and management structure of the Community Midwifery Program, Western Australia	42
8. References			44