Maternity Choices Australia, formerly the Maternity Coalition is an Australian advocacy group which aims to improve the provision of maternity services to parents. It consists of individuals as well as other non-government organisations.
Philosophy
The Maternity Coalition:
* encourages a woman-centred approach to the
birth
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
process;
* regard
pregnancy
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...
and
childbirth
Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...
as normal physiological processes, not illnesses;
* stresses the social, cultural and psychological factors influencing childbirth;
* supports
midwives
A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their ...
as the primary caregivers for women in normal birth;
* emphasises women's rights to make informed choices about their caregiver and place of birth;
* promotes continuous assessment and critical evaluation of technologies used in maternity care;
* supports the development of services sensitive to women's varied cultural and physical needs.
Its statement seeking political reform of maternity services is outlined in the
National Maternity Action Plan {{redirect, NMAP, the network scanning program, Nmap
The National Maternity Action Plan (NMAP) is an Australian document prepared by maternity consumer groups to alter the way Governments fund and resource maternity services.
History
The plan was ...
which was prepared by The Maternity Coalition in 2002.
Membership
As an umbrella organization it has institutional members from all States and Territories as well as individuals.
*
Friends of the Birth Centre, Canberra
*
Friends of the Birth Centre, Mackay
*
Australian College of Midwives
The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) is the peak professional organisation representing midwives and midwifery policy in Australia.
ACM was founded nationally in 1984, when midwifery associations in a number of states and territories came tog ...
Individual founding members include:
*
Kerreen Reiger
Presidents
National
* Robyn Payne 1998-2000
* Dr
Barbara Vernon 2001 - 2003
*
Justine Caines
Justine Maree Caines OAM (21 February 1973 – 12 September 2022) was a lobbyist and advocate in Australia. She died aged 49 years, following a 14-month battle with glioblastoma on 12 September 2022.
Activism
Justine Caines was National President ...
2003 - 2005
* Leslie Arnott, 2006
* Cas McCulloch, 2007
* Louise Hartley, 2008
* Lisa Metcalfe, 2009-2010
* Ann Catchlove, 2010
Queensland
* Bruce Teakle 2002 - incumbent
ACT
* Ingrid McKenzie 2003 - incumbent
Maternity Coalition Pressures Government - ABC News
/ref>
Journal
It publishes a quarterly journal entitled ''Birth Matters''.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Maternity Coalition Website
Child welfare activism
Medical and health organisations based in Queensland
Maternity in Australia