The Maternity Services Review identified a wide range of maternity care models
currently practised in Australia, and estimated 92.7% of Australian women receive care
through one of four models: private maternity care, combined maternity care, public
hospital care and shared maternity care.4 It is important to standardise nomenclature
and definitions across the range of models to facilitate meaningful analysis and program
comparisons.
In 2007, the majority (97.0%) of Australian women gave birth in conventional labour
ward settings, with far smaller proportions accessing birth centres (2.2%) or having
planned homebirths. There was also a small cohort of women who gave birth before they
reached a hospital. Of the women who gave birth in a hospital, 70.2% (196,960 women)
were in the public system and 29.8% (83,713 women) were in the private system.19
Continuity of care, as a feature of maternity care, is very important for women. There is
an increasing demand for midwifery continuity of care models. There are also many
women who choose to access continuity of care from general practitioners (GPs) and
specialist obstetricians. It is recognised that these choices should be respected and
supported by improved access for those who choose to use them.
The place of birth is a decision for women and their partners and families, with
a number of women choosing to give birth at home. There is a continuing
demand for planned homebirth to be made available through the public health
system,4 resulting in the provision of public homebirth services in several
jurisdictions within a safety and quality system. Midwifery Group Practices
providing care in the hospital and the community are the usual providers of
public homebirth care. Women who choose homebirth also use private models
with care provided by a privately practising midwife.
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Conten
t/pacd-maternityservicesplan-toc~pacd-maternityservicesplan-
chapter3
http://www.midwivesaustralia.com.au/?page_id=66
TERIMAKASIH