Jane Palmer

New Pricing Level for MIGA Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 21:56:00 +0000

MIGA have announced a new pricing level for midwifery indemnity insurance. This price level was created in response to midwives requesting a lower premium for part time practices. While the premium is still out of the reach of midwives only attending a few women a year - it does make the product more affordable.

The next step will be to see if they change the way they calculate the premium which is currently based on a 'per woman' basis. At the moment if I see one woman from the beginning of pregnancy through to 6 weeks after the birth - that woman is counted as one but if I see one woman for one postnatal visit (for example) - that woman is also counted as one. So 40 postnatal visits would be counted as 40 woman and the maximum premium needs to be paid. The way the Department of Health and Aging set the way insurance is structured for midwives doesn't reflect the way midwives work.

Have you experienced a third or forth degree tear?

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:01:00 +0000

If so, I would love to hear your story. Your experience following a third or fourth degree perineal tear following the birth of your baby or babies, will help with research so we can assess how the health care system can best care for all women who experience this complication following childbirth.

For further information please contact Holly Priddis (Midwife, PhD Candidate and Researcher) via email h.priddis@uws.edu.au or phone/text 0438 731 816.

Birth Stories Competition

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:01:00 +0000

We are excited to announce Pregnancy Birth and Beyond's 'Birth Stories Competition'. Everyone loves reading birth stories, stories about fast labours, slow labours, wonderful stories, sad stories, births at home, hospital or birth centre. We'd like you to send us your story. If you have photos of your labour, birth, baby or the new family that help illustrate your story we'd love to receive those as well. The best three birth stories will receive the prize. Selected birth stories will be published on this website.

We have three copies of this gorgeous keepsake for Australian children, the Limited Edition, Heritage Presentation of Animal Tales Series by Susan Hall and illustrations by Ben Guy to give away. The boxed set contains 4 individual hard cover books, 52 pages each. The National Library of Australia Publishing (NLA Publishing) is offering this highly successful Animal Tales series as a limited edition heritage presentation. A gorgeous keepsake for Australian babies and children!

To enter visit the "Birth Stories Competition" page of www.pregnancy.com.au

Supporting women in Public Hospitals after a homebirth transfer

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:00:00 +0000

This last fortnight has been quite stressful. It started with a report that a midwife had been reported for supporting a women in hospital who she gave a hot pack. The charge was she'd been practising midwifery without insurance. Then came a communication from MIGA (the insurance company) essentially saying that if a midwife stayed with a women after she transferred to hospital they would be in breach of their registration. This was shortly followed by a communication from the Australian College of Midwives basically saying the same thing. Yesterday sanity prevailed - Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency released a document clarifying this issue. You can find the official documentation on this page of AHPRAs website. Yes we can stay with a women who is admitted as a public patient as a support person. However the question of what constitutes midwifery care remains.

First baby to be born at Orange Aboriginal Birth Centre

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:35:00 +0000

I had the pleasure of visiting Murundhu dharaa birthing centre at Orange last month. It is a wonderful facility. Here is a news report of their first birth at the centre.

International Midwives Day

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:47:00 +0000

Today is International Midwives Day and I had nothing special planned. The day has been punctuated with messages wishing me happy International Midwives Day. It has been wonderful and makes enjoy even more being a midwife. Our local homebirth group "Homebirth Access Sydney" has just sent me a bunch of flowers - I feel overwhelmed and very lucky to receive such support and well wishes from the homebirth community.

I'd like to wish all the midwives across the world a very big "Happy International Midwives Day".

Love Jane xxx

Free tickets to Babies: The Movie

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 22:37:00 +0000

Last chance to be in the draw to win double pass tickets to Babies: The Movie. Details below. Entries have to be in by 9am on tomorrow 2nd of May. Visit bit.ly/jMd94s for details.

Water Birth Photo Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:53:00 +0000

New to Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond's website is the Waterbirth Photo Gallery. Waterbirth facilitates gentle, safe and empowering birth. This waterbirth photo gallery celebrates the wonderful option of waterbirth. Photos can say far more than words. If you have any waterbirth photos you are willing to share please email m e.

Water Birth Photo Gallery (Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond)

Midwifery in action.wmv

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:17:00 +0000

Midwifery in Action is a short video that provides a glimpse into what midwives do and the special relationship that can develop between midwives, women and their family. Anna, Marc and Baby Ben share their journey through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period with midwifery care. You'll see the continuum of care through prenatal visits, a home waterbirth and postnatal care.

Australian Resuscitation Council Release Revised Guidelines

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:53:00 +0000

The Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) has now published its revised resuscitation guidelines for Basic, Advanced, Paediatric and Neonatal Life Support. These changes reflect the most recent scientific evidence which was evaluated and recently published by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and its member organisations, including the Australian Resuscitation Council.

The guidelines continue to emphasise the importance of commencing resuscitation and providing good quality CPR. Resuscitation should be commenced where the person is unresponsive and not breathing normally as feeling for a pulse is unreliable in determining if a person needs resuscitation. It is now recommended that at the commencement of resuscitation 30 chest compressions are provided before giving the initial rescue breaths. The compression / ventilation remains at 30 compressions to 2 ventilations. The ARC also recommends that if a person is unwilling or unable to provided full CPR (ie chest compressions plus rescue breathing) then they should provide continuous chest compressions at a rate of just over 1 compression per second.

The revised guidelines for Basic, Advanced, Paediatric and Neonatal Life Support are available at www.resus.org.au and for the first time have been jointly developed and published with the New Zealand Resuscitation Council (NZRC).

Belated Christmas Gift

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:11:00 +0000

I received this bottle of wine as a belated Christmas gift. No it isn't a hoax - it is a genuine bottle of wine. Someone told the wine maker about the effects of Oxytocin on the body and they thought what a perfect name for a wine. The label reads "You know that feeling when you're on top of the world, you've got a smile on your face and a warm inner glow? It's probably Oxytocin - a wonderful hormone our brain naturally releases putting us into a state of bliss.

Sometimes Oxytocin is called the 'love drug', because it's integral in the boding between mother and child, lovers and friends ..."

Jacob's home water-birth.

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:24:00 +0000

In this YouTube birth video - the Aquaborn Birth Pool is used. I've just come from a birth where the woman used this same birth pool and I love it. It has more room than the La Bassine Birth Pool which enables the partner to easily get in the pool. You can find the Aquaborn Birth Pools in Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond's online store.

Vote for your favourite birth pool

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:37:00 +0000

Gillard sells out Australian birth

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:33:00 +0000

Celebrating World Breastfeeding Week

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:26:00 +0000

It is world breastfeeding week and I just wanted to share these great billboard posters


Central Railway Station, Sydney

Town Hall Railway Station, Sydney

Martin Place Railway Station, Sydney

A YouTube video by BirthsMart

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 22:43:00 +0000

This is a brilliant YouTube video by BirthsMart. It is very sad that birth has come to this for many women. The conveyor belt form of pregnancy and birth care. Let me know what you think?

A Bullying Culture

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:16:00 +0000

As a woman approaches her birth she should be able to look forward to the wonderful experience of becoming a mother. Being pregnant and giving birth should be a happy and exciting time. However there is the ever pervading culture of bullying that is seeping into midwifery and the hospital system. I have observed this bullying culture over the last 19 years getting worse and worse. As a midwife in private practice I constantly faced with being bullied and I have developed mechanisms that help me battle this negative behaviour that has become inherent in the hospital system . As a midwife I find this behaviour totally unacceptable. But what I find worse is the women employing my midwifery services are also faced with overt bullying and often hostility when choosing care that does not fit with hospital policy. Women need to be nurtured and supported in their choices. They should not be bullied.

What prompted me to blog on bullying was an article I read in the recent journal of the Australian College of Midwives "Women and Birth" Vol 23 Issue 2 June 2010 - on page 53 is an article called "You can drop dead": Midwives bullying women. This is an article that reports on an unexpected finding from a large research study of women who moved away from their rural or remote homes to a large city to give birth. This article explores incidents in which a small number of midwives are reported as behaving in an "uncaring, cold, callous, abusive and aggressive" manner to these women. Repeated threats to involve the department of community services (DOCS) was a common thread used by these midwives. This behaviour by midwives is unacceptable. These women are amongst the most vulnerable in our community - all their support networks are often hundreds of miles away. I feel sad and heavy hearted after reading this article. But also I feel more determined to campaign for the rights of women. I personally will do everything I can to combat bullying behaviour and I ask you to challenge anyone who attempts to bully pregnant women or new mothers.

Photo Montage of the Homebirth Australia Conference 2010

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Tue, 18 May 2010 04:17:00 +0000

Just arrived home from the Homebirth Australia Conference - thought I'd share my experiences

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Inflatable Birth Pools Compared

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:11:00 +0000

I often get asked about the various features of different birth pools. So I decided to develop a chart comparing all the available inflatable birth pools currently available in Australia. You can read more on this page http://www.pregnancy.com.au/birth-choices/waterbirth/inflatable-birth-pools-compared.shtml or click on the image to open the pdf document.http://www.pregnancy.com.au/bm.doc/inflatable-birth-pools-compared.pdf

New Australian Homebirth Documentary in production

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 21:04:00 +0000

Check out this teaser of a new Australian documentary currently in production.

Medicare Rebates for midwives

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:55:00 +0000

On Tuesday 16th March the Australian Senate passed bills that enable eligible midwives to provide Medicare funded antenatal, birth and postnatal care and to be able to prescribe certain medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Medicare rebates are only available for birth in hospital. Rebates for prenatal and postnatal care will be available to all woman, including women birthing at home. The new Medicare Benefits Scheme for midwifery and PBS will commence the 1st November 2010. Details of what is an eligible midwife and how the new system is to work is yet to be announced. You can read more Maternity Service Reforms fact sheet released by the commonwealth government and a summary called the National Maternity Reform by the Australian College of Midwives.

National Day of Action

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:54:00 +0000

On the the 18th of February 2010, in 14 locations across Australia, 1000s of people gathered to register their protest at the Rudd Government's policies that threaten to restrict options for women giving birth. The choice of women to have a private midwife will at best be highly restricted and at worse impossible if the current changes go ahead.

GOVERNMENT BACKFLIP ON MIDWIVES

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:13:00 +0000

This article appeared in Australia.to yesterday afternoon. I feel like we've had a big win - so much for Mr 3am

Family First Leader Senator Steve Fielding has welcomed the decision by the Health Minister to back down on its controversial plan to drive homebirths underground.

Under the Government's original proposal, homebirths were to become illegal unless a midwife could find a doctor willing to work in collaboration with them.

But now the government says it won’t force midwives to work in formal collaborative arrangements with doctors as a condition of insurance.

"The Rudd Government's backflip proves they clearly underestimated how important this issue was to Australian women,” Senator Fielding said.

“Women should have the right to choose whether they want to have a birth in a hospital or at home, and midwives that assist in either case should be able to access affordable indemnity cover.

“The Rudd Government created this mess because it wouldn’t listen to the community and its concerns.

“All too often this Government is intent on ramming legislation though to suit their agenda without seriously considering the consequences.

“The Rudd Government acknowledges it made an error in essentially making homebirths illegal when it announced at the 11th hour that it would give homebirth midwives a two-year reprieve from its changes.

Now the government needs to guarantee that women will be able to continue giving birth at home with the assistance of a registered midwife once the two-year reprieve has expired.

“Numerous studies have shown that for low-risk women with appropriate transfer-to-hospital options available, homebirths are at least as safe as births in hospitals or birth centres.”

Midwives damn AMA-induced amendments to maternity reform

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:06:00 +0000

A fabulous article by Professor Lesley Barclay and Professor Sally Tracy

Senior midwifery research academics, including 19 professors and associate professors of midwifery, have signed an open letter raising serious concerns about the newly proposed amendments to Health Legislation (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill and the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Bill.

These amendments are ill-informed, conflict with current regulation of the practice of midwives, and were promoted by a medical union (the AMA), rather than the craft groups most concerned and knowledgeable about women’s needs and safety at birth.

We and our colleagues are surprised and disturbed that pressure from a union rather than our medical colleagues has persuaded the government to make changes that are not informed by evidence, but appear to be based on protection of income and power.

We support reform of Australian maternity services — an area of long neglected policy by previous governments and health ministers.

To read the full article to go Crikey

noreply@blogger.com (aussiemidwife) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:01:00 +0000

I would love for your feedback on the logos. I am currently working on establishing a free standing birth centre in Sydney. We have decided on the name of the Janeanna Birth Centre. You can find out more about the birth centre on our Facebook fan page We have four draft logos pictured below.

Immediately below is Logo 1 - the heart pod image is Logo 4