Birth statistics

Source: Victorian Health Department 2009

I expect readers will find the trend in the number of women achieving planned home birth (Table 33)  interesting.  (click on picture to enlarge)

To access the full Victorian Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality & Morbidity (CCOPMM) Annual Report for the year 2009, click here.
[This is the most recent of the annual reports]

Midwives are the only professionals who attend women for planned home birth these days.  In years past there were a few GPs, but time and cost of insurance has caught up with them.  Midwives are attending homebirths privately without professional indemnity insurance, under a special exemption that is in place until June 2015.


I note:

• the gradual increase in homebirths as a percentage of all confinements*, from 0.2 in 1985, to 0.4 in 2009 (Table 33).
• Table 34 indicates the type of birth for all women who were recorded at the onset of labour as 'planned' homebirth.  Women planning homebirth in 2009 had 90% 'unassisted vaginal' birth (the overwhelming majority of these being spontaneous, unmedicated); 6% caesarean birth, and the rest forceps, vacuum, or unknown.  
• This compares with only 38.6% of all women in 2009 coming into spontaneous labour without augmentation (same report, p61), and 54.6% having unassisted vaginal births (p64).

AIHW 2010 - click to enlarge

We do not yet have a 'Births in Victoria' report for 2010 or subsequent years.
 
This 2010 national report is from the Australian government's Mothers and Babies publications site.

I note:

• In Table 3.18 (shown here), the number of babies born at home in Victoria has increased from 300 in 2009 (PDCU) to 567 in 2010. 
• This is the actual place of birth, including those who planned to give birth in hospital, and the baby beat them to it, and those who intentionally gave birth unattended ('free birth')
• The AIHW 2010 data does not report on home birth by intended place of birth in Victoria (Table 3.19, p29)
• 2010 was the year that the two public hospital homebirth trials commenced at Sunshine and Casey.  The number of homebirths births through those hospitals was small (40)
• 2010 was also the year that the federal government's maternity reform package was implemented, with midwives becoming eligible to provide Medicare-rebated antenatal and postnatal services from November 2010.

AIHW 2011 click to enlarge

 The 2011 national report from AIHW provides more information on home births in Victoria, as it includes the breakdown of those women who gave birth at home, having planned (intended to) give birth at home.

I note:

• The number of planned homebirths in 2011, in Victoria,  was 432, accounting for 0.6% of the State's births.  
• Looking back at Table 33 (above), the increase from 300 in 2009, 0.4%, is substantial.
• Midwives in Victoria quickly accessed eligibility for Medicare, and promoted primary maternity care options for women.
• The only place in Victoria where a midwife can practise privately is in the community, for planned homebirth.
• No Victorian hospital has yet established processes whereby midwives can apply for clinical privileges and attend their clients in the hospital
• Since 2010, a number of experienced midwives have resigned from mainstream Victorian hospital and birth centre employment and joined the ranks of midwives offering homebirth.

The following excerpt from AIHW 2011 provides interesting comment:

Homebirths 
In 2011, there were 1,267 women who gave birth at home, representing 0.4% of all women who gave birth. The highest proportions were in Victoria and Western Australia (0.8%) (Table 3.18). It is probable that not all homebirths are reported to the perinatal data collections.

The mean age of mothers who gave birth at home was 31.7 years (Table 3.49). The proportion of mothers younger than 20 was 1.3%, and the proportion aged 35 and over was 29.8%.

The proportion of mothers who gave birth at home who identified as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin was 1.1%.

Most women who gave birth at home were living in Major cities (70.8%) (Table 3.49). Of mothers who gave birth at home, about one-quarter had their first baby (22.3%), and 77.4% were multiparous.

The predominant method of birth for 99.3% of women who gave birth at home was non-instrumental vaginal (Table 3.49). The presentation was vertex for 97.6% of women who gave birth at home.

Of babies born at home in 2011, 99.2% were liveborn. The mean birthweight of these liveborn babies was 3,614 grams (Table 3.49). The proportion of liveborn babies of low birthweight born at home was 1.6%, and the proportion of preterm babies born at home was 1.3%. (AIHW 2011, pages 65-66)

I note:

• There were 10 babies of the 1,301 homebirths in 2011 recorded as fetal deaths.  These data do not provide detail as to how or why those deaths occurred.
• The midwife is duty bound to promote the wellbeing and safety of the mother and baby in her care, above preference for place of birth, or other factors.

*The word 'confinements' is used in these reports, as a tally of the number of women who have given birth, rather than the number of births, which includes multiples.  Readers might like to suggest a better word!

midwifery directions for 2014

Greetings to my little band of readers and thinkers and birth nerds.

In my first blog entry for 2014, not knowing what lies ahead, I hope this new year brings you valuable learning and the satisfaction of knowing that you have contributed well to whatever your work is.

There is an old saying that the pen is mightier than the sword.  I am using the internet to wield a (virtual) pen/sword (whatever that might mean in today's world) in my campaign to protect, promote and support health through childbirth.  The midwifery-childbirth scene is in need of protection. The context is discussion around the future of midwives and homebirth in Australia, stimulated by midwife-blogger Rachel Reed.  I would encourage you to read the post, and the comments.

Midwives and Medicare

For the past 2+ years I have been able to give clients Medicare rebates for antenatal and postnatal midwifery services.  I am looking forward to having a prescriber number in the near future.  This is part of the government's reform measure, More Choice for Women - Expanding Medicare Support for Midwives, introduced in November 2010.

The basic requirement that I must fulfill before a client can claim a Medicare rebate is that there is a collaborative arrangement in place: a letter or statement, signed by a suitable doctor.  As I have no 'agreement' to meet this need, I must seek out an arrangement for each woman.

There are a couple of doctors who have 'collaborated' with me on more than one occasion.  Most of the time it's a one-off.  Most of my clients live within a 1-hour drive radius of my home.  That's a huge metropolitan area, and some out in nearby towns.  In that area there are thousands of doctors.  Very few have met me.  Some have refused to collaborate, saying that they would thereby be liable for anything I did.

Several months ago a woman who has had three previous uncomplicated births in hospital contacted me.  She wants to have her next baby at home.  I explained Medicare and collaboration, and emailed a letter describing the need for a collaborative arrangement with a doctor, to her.  She took the letter to her local doctor.  In her own words, 

I am just writing to advise you of the trouble that I am having getting a GP to write a referral to your services.

After contracting you to get a letter for the referring doctor, I went to my local GP for confirmation of my pregnancy. They were happy to send me for tests and ultrasounds but when I explained that I didn't want to birth my fourth child in a hospital, but rather have midwifery care and plan a homebirth I was met with an almost hostile response. This GP who had seen me throughout 2 of my previous pregnancys pointed out that he would not write me a referral due to the use of the word "collaborative" . He failed to understand where his duty of care ended and the midwife's began. I tried to explain that I didn't need to see him throughout the pregnancy and that I only needed initial blood tests and this letter but he would not listen. He continued to explain that he would not put his reputation on the line for the sake of my Medicare rebate!

Feeling disheartened I searched for a doctor who had a similar outlook on the way birth should be. I felt positive that this woman would give me the referral I needed.

This time the doctor endorsed homebirth, was happy for me to see a private midwife and ordered the appropriate tests to be sent to my chosen care provider but once more would not write the letter. When I asked for an explanation once again there was talk of scaremongering from insurance companies who had advised her that if she wrote this letter and something went wrong at the birth, even if she was 200ks away she would be liable.

I find it extremely frustrating and disheartening that in order to get the birth that is right for me and my family, I am being financially penalised because my doctors of choice don't fully understand what is required of them.

With this woman's permission, I forwarded her letter to the Health Minister, Hon Tan Plibersek, MP.  The letter I have received from the Minister's office, in reply, gives me hope that the wrinkles may be ironed out.

Excerpts from the Minister's letter, dated 27 May 2013:

The More Choice for Women - Expanding Medicare Support for Midwives, introduced on 1 November 2010, expanded the Medicare arrangements to include midwifery care.  This was in recognition that women should have a range of birthing options available to them and be supported in their choice of practitioner.

Recognising midwives as primary maternity care providers under Medicare was also intended to assist in improving service delivery by enabling better use of the existing workforce ...

 ...

Since the measure was introduced, midwives have reported ongoing difficulties with establishing collaborative arrangements with individual medical practitioners.  This has hindered their ability to provide services under Medicare.

In recognition of this, at the Standing Committee on Health (SCoH) meeting of 10 August 2012, the Minister for Health ... agreed to vary the legislation on collaborative arrangements, to enable agreements between midwives and hospitals and health services.

The Department is currently in discussion with the medical, midwifery  and consumer groups to discuss the detail of the proposed changes.

The Minister recognises that the lack of hospital clinical privileging and admitting and practice rights is a fundamental issue for midwives.  This prevents privately practising eligible midwives from working to their full scope of practice, undermines continuity of care and reduces choice for women.  

As such, the Minister has asked Health Ministers to finalise consistent approaches to credentialing for midwives in public hospitals in line with States' and Territories' commitments under the Maternity Services Plan.

The Minister is committed to supporting increased participation by eligible midwives in the Medicare arrangements and to the proposed changes to the collaborative arrangement requirements that would facilitate this.

Thankyou for raising this important issue.  I trust this information is of assistance to you.
Yours sincerely
[&c]

My comment:
A letter like this to an ordinary inquirer like me does not give any new information.  However, I feel encouraged by the tone of the latter part of the letter.

Specifically:

• that midwives need practising rights in public hospitals 
• that the Minister has put pressure on the State and Territory Health Ministers, to get a move on 
• that public hospitals will be expected to support collaborative arrangements with midwives
• that the Minister is committed to this reform measure.

Readers may also share critical thought about the More Choice for Women ... reform measure, such as:

•  the inequity of signed collaborative arrangements, in that the midwife is required to obtain the arrangement, but no doctor is obliged to agree or to sign anything.  The loser, of course, is the woman.  AND the midwife looks pretty useless.
• the lengthy delays (such as since SCoH in August 2012) in making even the promised changes to the Collaboration Determination
• the obstruction by public hospitals throughout the country, with the exception of a few in S-E Qld, to any progress on practising rights for midwives
• with the above point in mind, surely it's unlikely that these hospitals will agree to collaborate with midwives, even after the legislation has been varied as promised 
• and finally, with an election, and probably a change of government in September, will we see ongoing support for More Choice for Women - Expanding Medicare Support for Midwives?

Your comments are welcome

how to promote midwifery?

I have often pondered this question, how to promote midwifery. 

Although midwifery is my livelihood, promotion of midwifery goes way beyond making a living and paying the bills.

Today I have drafted this sign, through which I hope to promote midwifery.  Although this sign has my contact phone number, my intention is to provide this as a template for other Medicare-participating midwives.

I have used colours and fonts that are consistent with the official Medicare signage and posters.  (unfortunately the quality of my printer's colours atm is not very good)  The colours and font should elicit a recognition response from the general community.  The fact that a midwife can offer Medicare rebates will be 'NEWS' to many in the community.

The key message is: "protecting the wellbeing of mother and child".  This is foundational to midwifery, and to the provision of expert primary maternity services in communities.


Another new initiative on my part is to start up a facebook group, which I have named 'villagemidwife'.  I do not particularly enjoy facebook, and its reliance on thumbs up 'like' votes about anything that is posted.  However, I am conscious that facebook is the social medium used by many young women of childbearing age, and therefore important.

For the record, other facebook professional groups that I belong to are:
breech birth ANZ
eligible midwives
graduate certificate of midwifery at Flinders
Australian College of Midwives


Thankyou for your comments.

Looking ahead: midwife-led primary maternity care

Today is a hot day in Melbourne, and I am taking this moment to set down my thoughts on how I and other midwives can continue to practise our profession.

Prior to the holiday break I wrote a progress report, two years after the introduction of reforms to government funding of maternity care.

There was clearly an expectation within the government, and the midwifery profession and the maternity advocacy community that the injection of $$ to fund midwifery would also open up greater acceptance of the work of the midwife.   It was assumed that private midwifery would ease the work of the over-burdened hospital system, public and private.  I cannot see evidence of this.  In fact, the money from the public purse has probably increased over-servicing by multiple service providers, rather than any cost shifting from the state (hospital) to the federal (Medicare) health budgets.

 

IDEALS AND REALITIES

The unique product that midwife-led primary maternity care offers a woman is a midwife who is the primary or first contact throughout the episode of care.  This is, in my opinion, the ideal option for any woman, and the ideal model in which a midwife can practise.  This ideal requires the midwife to be flexible in the time she will attend the mother, particularly during the labour, birth, and the early postnatal days.  The midwife's caseload is usually described by the number of bookings she has each month.  This ideal is supported by expert opinion and research, in the interests of the wellbeing and safety of mother and baby. 

Caseloads for midwives mean that the mother is in the care of a known midwife who intends to be the leading care professional through pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period, unless care is referred to a specialist obstetrician (or hospital obstetric service).  In this case, the midwife may continue to provide midwifery care, in consultation/cooperation with others (doctors, midwives, nurses, and other health services as required).

In reality, this ideal is rarely achieved.  This ideal should not be linked to planned place of birth, but in reality it is.  The only way most women can plan to have a known midwife as their primary carer throughout the episode of care is to plan homebirth. 

In reality, Australian hospitals and midwives are resistent to the changes that would be needed to make caseload midwifery options work for midwives in mainstream maternity services.  Women receive fragmented care that comes with all sorts of names attached: shared antenatal care, team care, obstetric clinic, midwives clinic, and many more.  Maternity wards and staff are used to midwives as shift workers, who are allocated to provide care for the women in the ward at the beginning of a shift.  The mother receives antenatal, perinatal and postnatal care from a group of midwives, doctors, and others, without knowing who will attend her at any time.


LOOKING AHEAD:
The maternity 'reforms' seem to be fragmenting the maternity care a midwife can provide, under a skewed concept called collaboration.

 
Midwives don't always agree on the way forward.

One midwife might be a pragmatist, and make an arrangement with the hospital maternity ward that she will be employed as a casual staff member when her clients are ready to be admitted. 

Another midwife is holding out, and hoping, for visiting access to the hospital.

One midwife might be an idealist, who will only make bookings to provide care for women who are committed to home birth. 

Another midwife is not interested in where the woman is intending to give birth ...

I have come to this latter position.  I recognise and respect the choice that a woman has to make, in the world in which we live, as to the intended place of birth.  I also know that this decision can change in a flash, for all sorts of reasons.  There are times when a woman who plans hospital birth reconsiders her options, perhaps in the weeks leading up to birth.  I am happy to work through this process.

One change that I and some of my colleagues have made, in response to the current climate of disrespect for the work of the private midwife, is to encourage women who intend to give birth in hospital to make a deliberate choice about the package of care they receive.  A woman can choose to receive primary care from a midwife, without having to plan home birth.  In some situations the hospital accepts a booking, but in others the woman will be unbooked.  This should not be a problem.   The administrative burden on the hospital of admitting an unbooked woman, especially in well staffed city and suburban hospitals, is not great.  The private midwife provides copies of any relevant tests and investigations, and a handover to the staff member who admits the woman.


Some midwives who have had Medicare provider numbers since 2010 have not yet established viable private midwifery practices.  They continue to juggle shift work in part-time or casual work at hospitals, while they seek private work.  Women are being discharged from public and private hospitals before they are confident in caring for themselves or their babies.  Many of these women would, I believe, appreciate home visits from a private midwife who has Medicare.  This is not happening.  The hospitals do not refer women to midwives.  They are happy to say "See your GP if you have a problem", but not "See your local private midwife before problems arise."


In conclusion, we still have a lot of work to do.

TWO YEARS LATER

It's two years since November 2010, when the Australian government announced sweeping maternity reforms that promised to give women a better deal in their maternity care.  The Report of the Maternity Services Review acknowledged that:

"... in light of current evidence and consumer preference, there is a case to expand the range of models of maternity care."

There are several posts on this site addressing the 2008 Review, and the subsequent recommendations and legislative reform.  For example, go to March 2010 Maternity Reform Hijacked, parts 1, 2, and 3; and the September 2010 one on Medicare funding: carrot or poisoned chalice.

Many midwives around this country have accepted the challenge, jumped through all the hoops, and achieved notation as Medicare eligible.  Our invoices for antenatal and postnatal midwifery services include the Medicare item numbers, and women are able to obtain Medicare rebate.  Some midwives are offering certain services at the Medicare bulk bill rate, which involves the swipe of a Medicare card in a little EFTPOS machine; the entry of a few details using the numbers on the machine, and the bulk bill payment shows up in the midwife's nominated bank account the next day.

The other major change that was brought about by the reform package was the ability of midwives to prescribe certain scheduled drugs: drugs that at present only a doctor can prescribe.  The first group of students in the Graduate Diploma of Midwifery from Flinders University are soon to receive their final scores for the Pharmacology exam paper, which we sat last Thursday, and which accounts for 50% of the mark.  For my journal as a student, go to this and subsequent entries.

On the positive side of the 2-year report of the 'reform' process we can record Medicare.  For example, Item number 82115, with a scheduled fee of $313.05 is

Professional attendance by a participating midwife, lasting at least 90 minutes, for assessment and preparation of a maternity care plan for a patient whose pregnancy has progressed beyond 20 weeks,...

[Health Insurance (Midwife and Nurse Practitioner) Determination 2011 - F2011L02162

]
The Medicare statistics website reveals that, in the 12 months October 2011 to October 2012, a total of $325,005 was paid out by Medicare for Item #82115.
The breakdown of amounts is (in order of magnitude):

Queensland $114,010
Victoria $63,944
South Australia $55,081
NSW $44,308
WA $40,720
ACT $3,241
Tas $2,912
NT $788

This is only one item number.  Other reports can be generated at the Medicare Item Reports site.


On the negative side of the leger, there are several points to note.  This list is my personal one, made from my experience.

1. Medicare Collaboration:
   It is becoming increasingly difficult in some areas to obtain collaborative arrangements that meet the requirements for midwives to provide Medicare rebates for women.
   
2. Access to practising in public hospitals: Despite expert multi-disciplinary committees and meetings and reports, it's clear that public hospitals do not welcome the idea of midwives practising privately within their confines.
3.  Access to practising in private hospitals: Are you kidding?
4. The homebirth problem: Midwives attending homebirth are doing so without indemnity insurance.  Surely the time of birth, regardless of place, is the very time when insurance may be useful. 
5. The future of private midwifery practice: I believe it is becoming more difficult over time to sustain private midwifery practice.  I believe some (probably well meaning) captains of the industry have an agenda to rid our society of homebirth.

Two years on, and the private midwifery profession is more restricted than it was previously.  There has been no expansion of the "range of models of maternity care" - the stated purpose of the maternity reforms.

*****

In conclusion, today I sat in a court room in Melbourne, as the case of complaints into the professional practice of a colleague was commenced by AHPRA.  The law under which the complaints are being heard prevents publication of the name of the complainant, and in this case the names of the women who employed the midwife have also been suppressed.

The legal inquiries and arguments will proceed over the coming days, and the midwife will eventually be told what findings have been made against her, and what conditions may be placed on her ability to practise her profession. [see MidwivesVictoria]

The issue that will, I believe, be at the centre of the case is whether a midwife is *allowed* to attend birth at home for a woman who has recognised risk factors.  The other side of that same coin is whether a woman who has risk factors, such as post maturity, previous caesarean, or twins, is *allowed* to give birth at home.  I have written *allowed* this way to highlight the statutory process that is being employed here, using the regulation of the profession to either permit or prevent certain activities, that are seen - rightly or wrongly - as 'operating on the fringe'.

I am not able in a blog to explore these issues fully.  I would like to make a clear statement that I consider the duty of care of the midwife who agrees to provide primary care for any woman, regardless of the risk status of that woman, to include the promotion of the wellbeing of mother and child, and where reasonable, the protection of spontaneous natural life processes.  The woman is the one who has the final choice on accepting or refusing any intervention.

The midwife practising privately brings skill and knowledge that may not be accessible or reliable in the hospital, where ad-hoc staffing issues often take precedence over the interests of the individual woman.

What progress have we made in the two years since the Maternity reform package was enacted?  Very little.  The only place most midwives are able to practise is the home.  The only way a woman can rely on a midwife is if she plans home birth.

availability of midwives for homebirths

Today I would like to explore a few issues around the availability of midwives to provide professional services for homebirth, and suggest what I see as a way forward.

These issues come under different headings, such as risk, cost, and practical matters such as distance the midwife needs to travel.

'Risk' - however defined - is a major obstacle.  The narrow definition of risk declares that every birth carries substantial risk, and that the only responsible place for birth to take place is in hospital.  This narrow mindedness is not informed by evidence or by logic.

The next level of risk puts it this way: It's OK to plan homebirth if everything is normal, and excludes significant numbers of women in the birthing population, such as those who have had a previous caesarean birth.

With the increased availability of publicly funded, hospital based homebirth programs, women who decline some 'standard' test or investigation are excluded.  A woman who makes what she considers to be an informed decision to avoid exposing her unborn child to routine ultrasound is told she is not permitted to continue in the homebirth program.  Similarly, a woman who indicates her desire to have an unmedicated/unmanaged third stage is told she can do that in hospital, but not at home.

Most readers of this blog probably realise that these restrictions that exist in our world today are based more on fear of birth than potential risk to the woman or her baby.

These distorted and uninformed responses to perceived risk should be discussed critically by midwives who understand the protective effect that is achieved when a well woman works in harmony with natural physiological processes.  Yet midwives say very little. 

These distorted and uninformed responses to perceived risk should be addressed logically and carefully by the maternity decision-makers in mainstream hospitals, providing suitable pathways for women whose risk status is not at the bottom of the ladder.  An obvious pathway is that a midwife who the woman trusts is available to attend as primary carer throughout the episode of care.  Yet the only place a woman can have her own midwife as her primary carer is in privately attended homebirth.  Public hospitals in Melbourne seem to be more committed than ever to preventing midwives from having clinical privileges/visiting access.  When midwives do attend a woman in a public hospital they often experience rudeness and disrespect towards the woman and themselves.

$$ Cost is significant in private homebirth.  While the midwives need to make enough money to sustain their practices, the cost of the service needs to be acceptable to the women who employ midwives.  Medicare rebates for antenatal and postnatal services are small by comparison with the fees that midwives are charging.  For example, a woman in my care will pay me approximately $2,500 for the episode of care, and may receive $500-$700 in Medicare rebate.  The Medicare rebate for intrapartum midwifery services is limited to hospital births with a Medicare-eligible midwife, and as mentioned, that is not an option.

The other factor in cost of private homebirth is the number of midwives.  Traditionally midwives have often worked in pairs, and many of my colleagues, particularly around Melbourne, require two midwives to be booked for homebirth, bringing the expected cost of the booking to $5000 or more.  A recent statement by a Sydney midwife-academic to a coroner's inquest indicated her belief that two midwives are an essential part of planned homebirth.  I disagree.  Strongly!

I have been told that some women who want to plan homebirth have chosen an unregulated woman (doula) as a cheaper alternative to two midwives.  I cannot support this option - it scares me.  I wonder if midwives who demand the 'two midwives' rule feel any responsibility for the apparently increasing rates of planned 'freebirth', either with or without a doula?  A doula speaking to me recently indicated that a woman she has met is considering freebirth, "with me there just to support her".

Practical matters: the main one that comes to mind is the distance across this wide brown land.  Gone are the days of the village midwife on her bike.  Each time I visit a client, I am using precious fuel.  Likewise, each time a woman comes to me.  If a woman lives closer to another private midwife, I will always ask her to consider employing that midwife.  (An exception is a few special women who I have attended on several occasions over the years.  I have become a part of those families, and it's lovely to return for the birth of the next baby.)

Speaking practically, there's no reason why midwives in every town and city across this country should not be able and willing to attend women locally for birth, guiding the women as to their need to be attended in hospital, or at home.  Ageing midwives like me should not be needing to drive an hour or two in our cars to get to the women.

Yet the culture of fear and distrust of birth has destroyed midwives' confidence in their own ability to be 'with woman'.   

What am I saying?

I believe midwives need to take more assertive action to promote and protect normal birth, including homebirth. 

• midwives need to think critically about risk
• midwives need to work to make primary maternity care by a known midwife affordable
• midwives need to wake up to their capacity to provide midwifery services in homes and hospitals, for all women.

a career in private midwifery?

... continuing thoughts on this topic from the MIPP blog.

with Sue and baby Benjamin - photo taken by Amy, used with permission

Today I want to focus on questions that arise for midwives and midwifery students who are considering a career in private midwifery practice. If you want to practise privately, independent of the mainstream maternity hospitals (public or private) which provide employment for the great majority of midwives in this country, you need to find a sustainable way to work.

Most midwives who practise privately in this country rely for 'business' almost exclusively on individual women who seek the one-to-one midwife who will work with them when they labour and give birth.  Midwives in private practice have caseload bookings, with individual women, usually across the spectrum of pre-, intra-, and postnatal services.

Most births at which the woman's chosen midwife is the primary/leading professional in attendance - the one who takes responsibility for the conduct of the birth and ensuring the wellbeing of mother and child in that acute episode of care - are in the woman's own home. There are midwives with clinical privileges in hospitals in the South-Eastern corner of Queensland (Toowoomba, Ipswich, Brisbane, Gold Coast), and Sydney. I don't have the details, but can follow up if anyone wants to know more.

What does a private midwifery practice look like, from a business perspective?

We need to consider the practice (the acts and being of midwifery) separately from the business (structure and financial aspects).

The midwife's practice can be 'solo' (working as the only professional midwife booked by a woman for the episode of care) or in arrangements where two or more midwives work together to provide the primary care for each woman who is booked with them. This is often described as a 'group practice'.

The private midwife's business arrangements for earning a living can be a simple 'fee for service' in which the woman/client pays that midwife directly, or the fee may be paid to an employer/company which in turn remunerates the midwife for the work she undertakes. The employer in the latter instance could be a midwifery group practice, or another business such as a group of obstetricians. The midwife may or may not be a partner in the practice.  Whatever the arrangement, laws applying to tax, employment and superannuation must be complied with.

My system for management of payments is that any money that is transacted, whether by cash, credit card, cheque, or electronic transfer, and whether by the woman or by Medicare (bulk billing) is immediately recorded by hand in a small 'Cash Receipt' book with carbon copies.  This automatically generates a number for the receipt, as all the pages are numbered, and I add a prefix which refers to the number on the outside of the booklet - at present the prefix is 17.  The top page is placed in the client's file, and the carbon page stays in the receipt book.  The receipt number and information will be entered into my Quickbooks accounting system when I get to it.  This is the basis for my income tax, and quarterly BAS returns.  Midwifery services do not generate the goods and services tax (GST), but the GST charged on purchases by the midwife in carrying out her business can be claimed from the ATO.

Most of my midwifery practice is 'solo', with some bookings made in which I practise with another midwife.  Recently I have enjoyed working with my colleague and friend, Jan Ireland from MAMA, in providing midwifery services for a woman who was booked with Jan.  I will describe this case from the perspective of the new Medicare arrangements, as it demonstrates how midwives are able to work together within the collaborative arrangement and maternity care plan set up by the midwife who has made the primary booking.

In this case, from the Medicare perspective, the second midwife is able to act as a reliving midwife or locum for the primary midwife.  The locum is described in legislation
Health Insurance (Midwife and Nurse Practitioner) Determination 2011, Health Insurance Act 1973,

Part 4 Interpretation

(1) In this Part: collaborative arrangement, for a participating midwife’s patient, means a collaborative arrangement mentioned in regulation 2C of the Health Insurance Regulations 1975. delivery includes episiotomy and repair of tears.

(2) For this Part, a participating midwife is a member of a practice that provides a patient’s antenatal care if the midwife:

(a) participates (whether as a partner, employee or otherwise) in the provision of professional services as part of the practice; or

(b) provides relief services to the practice; or

(c) provides professional services as part of the practice as a locum.

The arrangement by which I have provided (b)'relief services to the practice' or (c) 'professional services as part of the practice as a locum' is under (a) 'otherwise', since I am neither partner nor employee of MAMA.



Midwives who are beginning private practice, and who have Medicare eligibility, may consider the 'relief/locum' model, either as partner, employee, or otherwise, as a means of getting started.  



I commenced this post with a question, 'a career in private midwifery?'.  I believe there is a great potential for midwives to aspire to extending their midwifery practice when they step out of hospital employment into private practice.  However there are also significant risks, which all would do well to consider. 

Midwives who practise privately in a community are able to support each other, with relief/locum services, on one hand, while on the other they may be competitors for business.  Being able to accept and work constructively with this dynamic is a key to sustainability in private midwifery practice, not just for the individual midwife, but also for the community served by midwives over generations.

Planning for birth

I have updated my little booklet, Planning for birth, which I have used for many years as a handout for women who visit me, making inquiries about having a baby, and for midwives and students of midwifery.

This booklet is self-published, and copies are printed as required. Readers who would like like a .pdf copy, please request by email joy@aitex.com.au [I have not hyperlinked this email address, as that may invite spam] I am happy to share my work. If you want to use copyrighted items such as the poem 'waiting' on page 8, please give reference.

waiting

You are waiting to give birth.

Your pregnancy is a statement of your wellness, life and strength.  New life is swelling your womb. 
 

You and your mate accept the gift of life with eager anticipation.

Your body tells you that change and growth are following nature’s course.   The cessation of your menstrual flow, the desire for good food and rest, the enlargement of your breasts - all external - accompany the private dreaming.

As your midwife I am committed to supporting you and your family through this wonderfully basic life event - the birth of your baby - your personal, intimate celebration of life and health.

 ©Joy Johnston

The pages of the booklet are also scanned here - 4 sheets with 2 pages per side.