Connect
MJA
MJA

Obstetricians and midwives modus vivendi for current times

Edward W Weaver, Kenneth F Clark and Barbara A Vernon
Med J Aust 2005; 182 (9): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06777.x
Published online: 2 May 2005

Obstetric services need to be women-centred and based on mutual respect and collaboration

Obstetricians and midwives have complementary roles in the care of pregnant women, and each group would find survival without the other difficult. Nor would women necessarily receive the best care if access to one or other of these professions were restricted. Having complementary roles, though, has not prevented hostility or “turf” wars between the two groups, with midwives claiming that maternity services are over-medicalised,1 and obstetricians counter-claiming that there is no demand for midwife-led care.2 So what is the current modus vivendi for obstetricians and midwives, and to where feasibly could it evolve by 2020?


  • 1 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Australian College of Midwives, Turner, ACT.


Correspondence: 

  • 1. Johanson R, Newburn M, Macfarlane A. Has the medicalisation of childbirth gone too far? BMJ 2002; 324: 892-895.
  • 2. Lumley J, editor. Having a baby in Victoria. Melbourne: Health Department Victoria, 1990.
  • 3. Future directions for Victoria’s maternity services. Melbourne: Department of Human Services, Victoria, 2002.
  • 4. Roberts C, Tracy S, Peat B. Rates for obstetric intervention among private and public patients in Australia: population based descriptive study. BMJ 2000; 321: 137-141.
  • 5. Homer CS, Davis GK, Brodie PM, et al. Collaboration in maternity care: a randomised controlled trial comparing community based continuity of care with standard hospital care. BJOG 2001; 108: 16-22.
  • 6. Maternity Coalition, AIMS (Australia), Australian Society of Independent Midwives, Community Midwifery WA Inc. The National Maternity Action Plan for the Introduction of Community Midwifery Services in Urban and Regional Australia. September 2002. Available at: http://www.maternitycoalition.org.au/THE%20FINAL%20NMAP %20Sepember%2024th%202002.pdf (accessed Mar 2005).
  • 7. Bell R. The 2003 RANZCOG Workforce Survey. O&G 2003; 5: 174-178. Available at: http://www.ranzcog.edu.au/publications/o-g_pdfs/O&G-2000-2003/OG-Sept-2003.pdf (accessed Mar 2005).
  • 8. Australian Health Workforce Advisory Committee. The midwifery workforce in Australia 2002-2012. AHWAC Report 2002.1. North Sydney: NSW Health. Available at: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/amwac/pdf/midwifery_20022.pdf (accessed Mar 2005).
  • 9. Mohen DP. Future of obstetric practice in provincial Australia. O&G 2004; 6: 10-11. Available at: http://www.ranzcog.edu.au/publications/o-g_pdfs/O&G-March-2004/OG-March-2004.pdf (accessed Mar 2005).
  • 10. Brodie P. Addressing the barriers to midwifery: Australian midwives speaking out. Aust J Midwifery 2002; 15: 5-14.

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.