Birthing in the Bush
Duration: 74 minutes
Program ID: 905 | Purchase Price: $105.00 (DVD)
Obstetric services in rural and remote areas are diminishing significantly with over 130 maternity units closing down across country Australia in the last 10 years. With 29% of all babies in Australia born in rural and remote areas this now presents some difficult decisions for rural women when they become pregnant.
The diminishing support for rural women to give uncomplicated birth in their local communities has meant that increasingly women are faced with having to leave their communities in pursuit of good antenatal care and a safe birthing experience. Some women feel pressed to choose unnecessary medical intervention - such as induction or caesarean section - for no other reason than to minimise uncertainty, cost and disruption to family life. Such pressures have major social and psychological impact, not just on the mother and her baby, but also on families and on rural communities generally.
This program looks at the latest research on the care of pregnant women and their babies and possible medical complications. It explores the implications of such research for rural women and their health caregivers. It examines models of patient care for women with low-risk pregnancies that enable them to give birth in local communities. The principles of good antenatal care and appropriate management of labour and birthing will be discussed. The program considers the various roles and responsibilities of the rural maternity health care team and appropriate risk management strategies. It will also focus on the particular needs of Indigenous women and look at some programs that have been developed to address them.
Note that this program was originally presented live as a simultaneous interactive satellite broadcast and Internet webcast. The DVD, video and audio files available from this page have been edited to remove many of the interactive elements of the program.
Program Presenters
- Chair: Dr Norman Swan - Presenter of the Health Report on ABC Radio National
- Dr Peter Bland - Staff Specialist Obstetrics, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney NSW
- Ms Sue Dunning - Team Midwife, Southern Flinders Health Crystal Brook, SA
- Associate Professor Sue Kildea - Associate Professor of Midwifery, Charles Darwin University, NT & Vice President, Council of Remote Area Nurses Australia (CRANA)
- Dr Christine Tracey-Patte - General Practitioner, Beaudesert QLD
Learning Outcomes
- familiarise with the latest research in the health care of the pregnant woman and her baby
- identify appropriate procedures for detecting pregnant women at greater risk of medical complication and appropriate pathways and timing for referral
- recognise the principles underlying 'social/clinical' models of health care for women with uncomplicated pregnancies in rural communities
- identify culturally safe models of care for Indigenous women during the perinatal period
Broadcast Dates
This program was first broadcast on the Foundation's satellite network on Tuesday 10 March 2009.
Funding Bodies
Funding has been provided by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Accreditation
This program is accredited or endorsed for CPD/CPE by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, the Royal College of Nursing Australia and the Australian Physiotherapy Association.
