Broken Hill Midwifery Group Practice Celebrates 5th Birthday
The Broken Hill Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) celebrated reaching five years of providing a midwife-led continuity of care model to local mums and their families.
The fifth birthday for the service was celebrated on Wednesday, 1 July 2020 in a low-key affair due to COVID-19.
The Broken Hill MGP is a midwifery-led continuity of care model, whereby a woman receives care from a known midwife throughout her pregnancy, birth and early parenting period. It is widely considered to be one of the most beneficial models of maternity care and is shown to promote a normal and positive labour and birth experience for women and increase the likelihood of a healthy baby born at term.
Around Australia, only 10% of women have access to a midwifery-led model of care due to many different barriers. Launching and sustaining a MGP requires an enormous commitment and passion for providing gold-standard maternity care to women.
'When we launched the BHMGP in 2015, the Far West LHD undertook a complete overhaul of our maternity service,' said Chelsea Anderson, FWLHD Clinical Midwifery Consultant.
'We are extremely proud to achieve this significant milestone and to provide all of the women in the Far West with access to their own midwife through the Broken Hill MGP.'
Alison Isaacs, Midwifery Unit Manager said local women using the service have consistently reported a very positive experience with the MGP. 'They found that the most valuable aspect of the service was the close relationship they develop with their allocated midwife, which makes them feel comfortable discussing their concerns and asking questions'.
Alison said it was unfortunate that due to COVID-19 the MPG midwives are unable to host an event with the women and families in the park to celebrate the milestone occasion. 'We love an opportunity to get outside, chat to mums, cuddle babies and celebrate the relationships we have built within the community. It's one of the things that reminds us how special it is to be a midwife,' she said.
'If we were to make a wish when we blow out the candles this year, it would be to see some young aspiring midwives in Broken Hill joining our ranks in the near future!' said Alison.
The celebration was marked with a small lunch in the Maternity Unit attended by the Broken Hill Maternity Midwives and the FWLHD Midwifery Directorate.