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Future Birth papers

The papers from the Future Birth tour around Australia in March are now available on our web site. Of particular interest, given the current concern about birth in rural areas, is the paper by Sally Tracy on the new midwifery unit at Ryde and the results of her research into the safety of small maternity units. Click here to read her paper.

Susanne Houd’s excellent presentation on the way maternity care has been returned to women in the isolated areas of Nunavit, northern Canada, and Greenland is of great interest. Here is an example of how enabling women to give birth in small, isolated communities can give better results than birth in larger, more technologically advanced hospitals. It is the midwives who make the difference and the education of local women to become the midwives for their own community is a shining example of primary health care at its best. There is much to learn from these examples, and programs based on these models would serve our Aboriginal women well. Giving birth “with a home”, as Susanne describes it, is as important to Aboriginal women in Australia as it is to the Inuit of Canada. Click here to read more.

One of Sandy Kirkman’s greatest gifts is her ability to make us laugh - at ourselves, our situation and our work. The seemingly endless stories she told of midwives, students, Irish Nuns, and hapless parents were funny, but also carried powerful messages. She encouraged us to celebrate the unsung heroes of improved maternity care and provided a number of examples of pivotal research that changed birth services forever. Click here for these references are all now on the website, along with the poetry she shared with us on the day. I can’t give you the twinkle in her eye or the rubber-faced expressions that had us in stitches - you’ll have to imagine those!

Posted by andrea at May 13, 2005 03:38 PM