During this session, participants will be introduced to the new ACM position statement on Midwife-Performed Ultrasound. This will be followed by insights from five leaders across Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales, representing a range of perspectives from research, public hospital services, and private practice.

The session will also explore the scope of midwife-performed ultrasound in rural and remote settings, as well as within early pregnancy care contexts. The webinar will conclude with a panel discussion, hosted by ACM Midwifery Advisor, Eleanor Tomlinson.

Link to ACM Position Statement on Midwife performed Ultrasound can be downloaded below.

Presenters
Professor Nayana Parange, a Professor of Medical Sonography at Adelaide University. She holds qualifications in medicine, specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, ultrasound, and education and a PhD. She is active in teaching, research, industry and community engagement and is a leading expert internationally in clinical ultrasound training in diverse settings, ranging from primary health care to tertiary maternal-fetal medicine setting.

Amber Bidner is a clinician and academic with over 25 years’ experience as a Registered Nurse and Nuclear Medicine Scientist. For the last 10 years she has worked in teaching and research at the University of South Australia (UniSA), earning recognition including a HEA Associate Fellowship in 2019, the 2021 AFG Diamond Jubilee Scholarship, and the 2022 SA Women in Innovation Award. She is currently completing a PhD at Adelaide University and managing the Healthy Newborn Project, researching antenatal point of care ultrasound training for non-imaging clinicians in rural and remote Australia.

Nicole Freeman is a midwife with over 30 years of experience across a range of clinical and academic settings. She currently works in the Early Pregnancy Assessment Service at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth, supporting women and families experiencing early pregnancy complications and loss. She recently completed her PhD exploring midwifery practice in acute early pregnancy care and is a national advocate for expanding midwifery scope in this area.

Michelle Harding is a registered midwife with 20 years of experience in maternity care, spanning both clinical practice and leadership roles at University Hospital Geelong. She’s previously managed the Birth Suite and Maternity Assessment Unit, where she played a key role in implementing third-trimester basic ultrasound for midwives, in collaboration with the hospital’s chief sonographers and the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine. Michelle is also currently undertaking the course that she helped implement, to independently perform third-trimester ultrasound.

Lindsay Coward is a privately practising Endorsed Midwife working across the Albury-Wodonga region on the lands of the Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta peoples. Lindsay established a midwife-led Early Pregnancy Assessment Service and has championed the use of midwife-performed ultrasound to support timely, compassionate early pregnancy care.