Endorsed midwives providing comprehensive maternity care on International Day of the Midwife

Women birthing at FSH can now be cared for by Endorsed Midwives within existing continuity of midwifery care models; in the Family Birth Centre and the trial Maternity Antenatal Postnatal Service (MAPS) program.

Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) Maternity Unit enables our Endorsed Midwives to work to their full scope of practice providing women and their babies with comprehensive, continuous pregnancy, birth, and postnatal care, while improving timely access to medications and diagnostic tests.

Continuity of midwifery care from a known midwife has been proven to improve outcomes for women and babies, while also increasing job satisfaction, autonomy, and workforce retention for midwives.

Endorsed Midwives have completed five thousand hours of clinical practice as well as additional studies in diagnostics and prescribing, and working to their full capacity will provide more continuity of care to women and their babies, as well as assist their medical colleagues.

FSH Endorsed Midwife Danielle said she is proud to be able to use her full training to care for women, babies, and their families within her existing role.

“To be supported by FSH to work to my full scope of practice within my current position is wonderful,” Danielle said.

“Being able to carry the care through for a woman across the continuum of pregnancy, birth and postnatally, while being enabled to screen for common conditions if needed, and work with the multidisciplinary team to diagnose and prescribe appropriate medications, is what I trained for,” Danielle said.

Danielle is currently caring for Justine Johnson who is in her third trimester of pregnancy. She said she feels more confident now she has a consistent midwife throughout her pregnancy. 

“It’s reassuring to know I’ll be supported by someone who understands my journey and history,” Justine said. 

“Each appointment feels more personal and having that continuity has really helped me feel secure and empowered as I prepare for birth.”

Acting Coordinator of Nursing and Midwifery, Leanne Graham, said FSH were thrilled to increase the autonomy of currently employed Endorsed Midwives at FSH to ensure women receive quality, woman-centred care.

“Enabling our Endorsed Midwives to work to their full scope across the woman’s perinatal journey not only offers women and their babies best-practice continuity of midwifery care, but also reduces pressure on our healthcare system, through decreased costs and timely access to medical practitioners,” Leanne said.

“Our Endorsed Midwives will continue to liaise with our medical teams and escalate care to when it falls outside their scope of practice,” Leanne said.

May 5 was International Day of the Midwife (#IDM2025) (external site). This year’s theme is Midwives: Critical in Every Crisis, highlighting that midwives are vital to a health systems’ ability to prepare for and withstand crises.

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