Speaker: Jessica Brumley
Facilitator: Caitlin Goodwin
Midwifery has played a critical role in maternal and newborn care throughout our history, yet its integration into the healthcare system has been marked by challenges and transformation. This presentation explores the historical trajectory of midwifery. The current landscape highlights a growing recognition of midwifery’s benefits, including improved maternal outcomes, reduced interventions, and enhanced patient-centered care. Despite this progress, barriers such as restrictive regulations, inconsistent legislative policies, and disparities in access persist.
Looking ahead, the future of midwifery integration depends on policy reform, interprofessional collaboration, and public awareness to strengthen midwives’ role in addressing the maternal health crisis. A strong professional association is critical in advancing the midwifery agenda and strengthening the profession.
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Speaker: Red Miller
Facilitator: Linda Deys
As a home birth midwife with nearly 2 decades of experience working the continuity of care model, I have found the word that most relates to my practice style is Biodynamic Midwifery. In my practice, I also have a strong focus on addressing fears to create space for ultimate outcomes.
Fear exploration is such an essential process for the birthing women and also the birthing partner, the older sibling, the grandparents, the doulas, whoever will be present and surrounding the mother at the time of birth.
This presentation will explore:
- the word biodynamic and introduce the concept of biodynamic midwifery.
- An introduction to the concept of relational field dynamics and explore how to hold a field of integrity and trust.
- An exploration of the role we carry as midwives to help shift a family from fear to love, including practical, applicable tools for self-exploration as well as for use with the families. We will explore how this practice is the fastest way to return a mother to their intuition.
I want to leave the participants with a renewed sense of passion for this sacred work and give them new ways of BEING within it!
Speakers: Rachael Ame Maima and Linda Deys
Facilitator: Caroline Maringa/Nyambura
Maternal and newborn mortality rates in Papua New Guinea are among the highest in the world, with around 170 deaths for every 100, 000 women and 20 neonatal deaths per 1000 live births each year. The causes for many of these deaths are preventable or treatable when women have equal access to safe, quality health care. Lack of midwives and resources increases the impact for remote communities but also for those living in cities such as Port Moresby.
In April 2024 the fourth group of the PNG Midwifery Leadership Buddy Project met in Port Moresby with 14 PNG and 7 Australian midwifery mentors, aiming to improve maternal and newborn outcomes in PNG. This twinning program of the PNG Midwifery Society and the Australian College of Midwives is funded by Rotary and informed by the ICM Member Association Capacity Assessment Tool (MACAT). PNG buddies identified quality improvement projects within their workplaces, with the Australian midwives supporting the development of leadership and advocacy skills for the projects to be completed.
This presentation will introduce one of the 2024 buddy relationships and project which aimed to increase the known haemoglobin level of women accessing antenatal care in a clinic in Port Moresby. It will describe the importance of a known Hb and demonstrate the processes, challenges, successes and setbacks experienced and highlight the importance of resilience and patience. It will emphasise how professional midwifery connections and mentorship can promote leadership, improve maternity outcomes, and strengthen the role of midwives across countries.
Speaker: Kate Greenstock
Facilitator: Ally Anderson
Merely existing as a midwife in much of the world is a political act, flourishing collectively is our outrageous next step!
At its core, flourishing means staying connected to ourselves – and to each other – even as we face the psychological challenges of this work. Experiences of trauma exposure and moral injury connect us as global midwives despite our differing contexts. And yet they so often disconnect us from ourselves and the families we serve.
Our time together will acknowledge the realities AND explore how we go on sustaining ourselves in midwifery by proactively connecting to our purpose, our power, our body, our breath. Just as we ground and encourage a woman in labour, come be grounded and encouraged!
Speaker: Mouhtassine Khadija
Facilitator: Linda Wylie
Introduction: Fear of childbirth (tocophobia) is a significant maternal health issue that affects physical and emotional well-being. Tocophobia can lead to complications during pregnancy and childbirth, requiring special attention from midwives. Factors such as maternal age, parity, psychological conditions, lack of social support, history of abuse, and obstetrical complications are strongly associated with this condition. This study aims to assess the prevalence of tocophobia among pregnant women in Settat Province and identify related factors to inform midwifery practices.
Methods: A quantitative study was conducted with 194 pregnant women recruited in Settat Province. Data collection involved a structured questionnaire comprising two sections: the first explored tocophobia-associated factors, and the second evaluated childbirth fear using the EPA scale. Descriptive statistical analysis, mean comparisons of EPA scores, and factor assessments were performed to identify significant correlations.
Results: The average age of participants was 26.31 years, with 59% multiparous and 41% primiparous women. Multiparous women reported higher EPA scores (42.30) than primiparous women (40.63). Significant associations were observed between tocophobia and psychological disorders, experiences of violence, and negative childbirth experiences (p=0.000). These findings suggest that prior trauma and psychological factors are critical determinants of fear of childbirth.
Conclusion: This study underscores the necessity of evaluating tocophobia in pregnant women to improve their well-being and that of their children, thereby preventing complications.
Speaker: Yvonne Meyer
Facilitator: Celine Lemay
Sages-femmes dans certaines publications. C’est le cas pour l’inscription de notre activité professionnelle au patrimoine immatériel UNESCO où, dans l’annonce en français, le mot sage-femme est absent du titre. Comment sont présentées les sages-femmes ailleurs ? Neuf documents ont été repérés qui ont pour titre l’art, les soins, la pratique, les sciences ou la profession de sage-femme. Les résumés de ces documents seront présentés, ainsi que l’analyse réalisée, basée sur les critères de soins centrés sur le patient (Rycroft-Maloine, 2004). Les résultats montrent que toutes ces formulations sont polysémiques et qu’elles n’ont pas exactement la même portée. Par contre, toutes présentent haut et fort les sages-femmes et ce qui les caractérise. Si UNESCO avait titré « Les soins de sage-femme : connaissances, savoir-faire et pratiques », les sages-femmes seraient visibles partout dans le monde francophone.
The theme of the intervention is motivated by a regrettable problem of visibility of midwives in certain publications. This is the case for the inclusion of our professional activity in UNESCO’s intangible heritage list, where, in the French announcement, the word sage-femme is absent from the title. How are midwives presented elsewhere? Nine documents have been identified that deal with the art, care, practice, science or profession of midwifery. Summaries of these documents will be presented, along with the analysis carried out, based on the criteria of patient-centred care (Rycroft-Maloine, 2004). The results show that all these formulations are polysemous and do not have exactly the same scope. However, they all make a strong case for midwives and what characterises them. If UNESCO had published the title « Les soins de sage-femme: connaissances, savoir-faire et pratiques » (‘Midwifery: knowledge, skills and practices’), midwives would be visible throughout the French-speaking world.
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