PARLIAMENT HOUSE for "Mothers Day" and "International Midwives Day" 2008

• Maternity consumers and midwives met with Frances Bedford MP, State Member for Florey for afternoon tea at Parliament House after their visit to the Public Gallery to hear Frances air their grievances about maternity services in South Australia (see official Hansard report below).

EXTRACT FROM HANSARD - PARLIAMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Hansard/DailyHansard.htm

MOTHER'S DAY

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:18): Here in Australia we will celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. Countries all over the world celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins. According to Wikipedia, one school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece which kept a festival to Cybele, a mother of Greek gods.

This festival was held around the vernal equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March. Ancient Romans had another holiday, Matronalia, and this was dedicated to Juno, though mothers received gifts on this day as well. In some countries, Mother's Day began not as a celebration for individual mothers but rather among Christians when people went to their home churches, and so mothers would be sure to see their children. Mothering Sunday in UK and Ireland falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent and so moves with the lunar cycles.

Women mother in different ways and take on the mothering role in many ways too—the most traditional way through birthing their own children. There are many ways to birth and each woman has in her mind how this might happen. Nature plays an important role in birthing and in most cases should not be hurried. At this important time in their lives, women appreciate and know they require special assistance and support.

In the recently released film The Business of Being Born by US celebrity Ricki Lake, among many things that I learnt was that babies were all born at home prior to World War II. From that time the medicalisation of the birthing process began bringing with it many welcome improvements for safe outcomes for mothers and babies and other changes that have transformed birthing almost totally.

An important celebration was observed on Monday 5 May—the International Day of the Midwife. This vital and often unsung role within our communities plays a pivotal role in birthing. The theme for the 2008 International Midwives Day was 'Healthy families: the key to the future'. Midwifery care for women and their babies is an investment in family and community that promotes healthy growth and wellbeing for present and future generations. Congratulations go to Ms Arianne Webber, who recently received the Australian College of Midwives 2008 Midwifery Excellence Award, and Rob Bonner, the recipient of the Nursing and Midwives Advocate Award.

I would like to quote from the message from the United Nations UNFPA Executive Director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, who said, 'Every day, midwives are saving women's lives by making deliveries safe.' She goes on to say that the care they provide is essential before, during and after delivery, and that when women are healthy, families are healthy; and when families are healthy, the wellbeing of communities and nations also improves.

The message advises that in developing nations a woman dies in childbirth every minute and that these women can be saved by having midwives in their communities, and that, by investing in midwives, governments can achieve universal access to reproductive health and the Fifth Millennium Development Goal—to improve maternal health.

There is an urgent need around the world for 334,000 midwives and, to keep them, midwives need incentives to continue their work. I quote again directly from the message:

When they are properly trained, empowered and supported, midwives offer the most cost-effective and high-quality path to maternal and newborn health. Midwives provide care for women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. In the case of pregnancy complications and emergencies, midwives perform key life-saving functions.

The message concludes by saying:

A functioning health system is a system that can deliver to women when women are ready to deliver. If the health service can respond to the medical requirements for safe delivery, then it can respond to other emergencies. The work of midwives is an essential element of primary health care and helps strengthen health systems.

Today in the gallery, we welcome a delegation from the Maternity Coalition (SA Branch). It was my pleasure to attend a roundtable discussion last weekend, along with the member for Bragg and the Hon. Sandra Kanck, where leading consumer representatives and midwives from South Australia discussed the 2030 vision for maternity care and what mothers really have to celebrate on Mother's Day.

They are concerned about access to better birthing services, particularly in regional and rural areas, and a recognition that birthing is not an illness or sickness and should be treated in that way. They look forward to the introduction of and the debate on the new SA Nursing and Midwifery Practice Bill, and they look forward to the release of current intervention statistics of all maternity hospitals. This will mean mothers can make an informed choice on where to have their babies and know where safe, natural methods are supported and happening.

The South Australian President of the Maternity Coalition, Dr Lareen Newman, says that, among other things, South Australian mums want to birth close to home in situations that offer safe alternatives outside hospital. Other states are now introducing low-risk midwifery-led models, such as the Ryde (NSW) and Mareeba (Queensland) community birthing centres. These models are being brought to the attention of South Australia's statewide clinical networks, which have been formed to increase the level of a clinician's involvement in the planning of health services, to find ways to better coordinate delivery of the services and to ensure better health outcomes for all South Australians.

The report, 'A Framework for Delivering Best Practice Health Care', released in 2007, is one of the strategies underpinning South Australia's Health Care Plan and the ongoing reform of the health system to ensure that all South Australians continue to have access to high standards of health care.

The Maternal and Neonatal Clinical Network is developing implementation of a maternal and neonatal statewide service plan, including advising on the development of patient centres, sustainable and effective clinical services across the continuum of care using models of care based on population need. The models will be readily accessible, officially provided and evidence-based. Consideration will be given to a range of approaches to ensure services are equitable for rural and remote consumers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and special population groups. It is chaired by Professor Jeffrey Robinson.

The Pregnancy SA Infoline introduced in December 2007 provides a single point of contact for women and GPs to book the all-important first antenatal appointment at the closest public maternity service to discuss pregnancy care and birthing options.

Worryingly, caesarean rates are high in South Australia—way above the World Health Organisation's recommended rate of 15 per cent. Questions must be asked why this trend continues to rise. Women and midwives are also eager to pursue the planned home birth policy. Much work over four years has been done to develop the policy, which has been publicly available for six months.

Federal and state governments need to cooperate fully to ensure that a full range of services are available in every state and territory. Women need to be informed to ensure birthing provides a safe and happy experience. Above all, midwives need to be valued so that mothers continue to become mothers.