“Act now for safe and respectful childbirth!” World Patient Safety Day 2021 The theme selected for World Patient Safety Day 2021 is “Safe maternal and newborn care”, due to the significant burden of risks and harm women and newborns are exposed to when receiving unsafe care during childbirth. The World Health Organization urges all stakeholders
The Women's Safety Summit - Needs to include pregnancy The effects on women and their children of violence during pregnancy cannot be overstated. It is associated with several types of harm, both to a pregnant mother and to her unborn baby. We at Maternal Health Matters Inc. would like the National Federation Reform Council Taskforce on Women's
Maternity Care Reform – We need it NOW. Governments, health services and maternity care experts are letting women down. While Australia does have a strategy for ensuring all women receive respectful maternity care, the strategy is yet to be implemented. Australia is yet to develop a strategy and targets to ensure all women receive best
Women’s rights are human rights! Women’s rights are human rights, yet too many women and girls are still denied their fundamental rights. Pregnant women pay with their bodies and their very lives. This is evidenced by the physical damage women experience, with one third of Australian women defining their birth as traumatic, some experiencing
International day of Indigenous peoples International days are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. Today is the International day of Indigenous peoples and we at Maternal Health Matters Inc. have a vision vision is
World Breastfeeding Week 2021 This year’s theme, Protect breastfeeding: a shared responsibility, focuses on how breastfeeding is an important contributor to the survival, health and wellbeing of all. This year we would like to highlight that maternity care impacts on breastfeeding success and those who provide maternity care share the responsibility to support the new
Thinking about your birth choices Choosing the right birth option can be difficult, now a new resource aims to make that easier. We know that where a woman chooses to give birth and who will provide her maternity care have the greatest impact on birth outcomes. We want all women to receive appropriate and respectful
Three ways to ensure you receive safe, quality maternity care Three ways to ensure you receive maternity care based on the best available current evidence. Know what evidence based care is; and use it for your antenatal visits. Choose the right health care provider – see Who provides maternity care in Australia? Your health professional options
Right Birth, Your Choice We are pleased to present Right Birth Your Choice, a video which informs women on the options available for a safe pregnancy, birth and transition to motherhood. The decisions that have the greatest impact on birth outcomes are where a woman chooses to give birth and who will provide her maternity care. Making the right choice is
Shame on all of us for allowing disrespectful maternity care to happen. Birth is simultaneously a time for extraordinary joy and a time of intense vulnerability, when women may emerge triumphant or may need the strength of others to see it through. We in Australia need to rediscover pregnancy and birth as a family joy
