What's a Midwife?

What is a midwife?

A midwife is a health professional who supports you in labour and birth and helps you have your baby. Midwife means ‘with woman’ and midwives take this very seriously. A midwife is not only a maternity care specialist with the knowledge and capability to ensure the best health outcomes for you and your baby, they are YOUR advocate; helping to achieve the experience YOU want. They provide ‘woman centered care’ through your pregnancy and birth, placing you at the center of everything they do and tailoring your care to your unique situation. They ensure that you’re fully informed and empowered to make your own decisions about your care and the care of your baby. And they don’t abandon you after birth. They’re with you in those intense first 6 weeks to guide you, provide advice and ensure you have the best start to motherhood.

Midwifery is more than just a job; it’s a calling, a lifestyle, for some it’s even a key part of identity. Ask your midwife if they’re a member of ACM and be assured that you’ll have the right midwife by your side; up on the latest evidence based practice and innovation, invested and engaged in the profession and 100% for you. Because every woman deserves the gold standard.

Gold Standard Maternity Care

In Australia we often medicalise birth when we don’t need to, forgetting that pregnancy and birth isn’t an illness, it’s a normal physiological process!

Midwifery care is the best maternity care you can get. The real gold standard is the ‘continuity of carer’ model where you see the same midwife or midwives throughout your whole pregnancy so that when you have your baby and in the weeks after, you are getting care from someone you now know well and trust. And there is plenty of evidence to prove it’s the best. Here are the stats.

With midwifery led care you are more likely to:

have a normal birth;
have your baby at term and healthy
have a positive experience of labour and birth;
be satisfied with your maternity care;
successfully breastfeed your baby; and
cost the health system less.

And place of birth matters too. The odds of normal labour and birth are more than twice as high in planned birth centre births than in hospitals. You are also:

19% less likely to lose your baby before 24 weeks
24% less likely to experience Pre term birth
16% less likely to have an episiotomy
6% less likely to have a caesarean
More likely to breastfeed successfully
More likely to have a positive birth experience

Homer CSE, Cheah SL, Rossiter C, et al Maternal and perinatal outcomes by planned place of birth in Australia 2000 – 2012: a linked population data study BMJ Open 2019;9:e029192. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029192

It’s up to you to choose the kind of care you want. Ask your GP about midwifery led care or whether you can access continuity of carer where you live. Alternatively you can find your own privately practising midwife.

Privately practising midwives are a wonderful option for anyone wanting the continuity of carer experience. Private practice doesn’t mean homebirth, but that is an option with a privately practising midwife if you want it. Many privately practising midwives can still look after you in hospitals or birth centres- it just depends where they have admitting rights.

Endorsed Midwives

An Endorsed Midwife is a Midwife with an additional postgraduate qualification for an Endorsement for Scheduled Medicines.

They can prescribe some medications and order diagnostic tests relating to pregnancy, birth and the newborn period making them autonomous
primary maternity care providers.

Endorsed midwives do not require a GP referral to work with women and can provide direct referral to other health professionals such as obstetricians
and paediatricians as needed.