Dear ozmiders,
FYI this has been sent to a range of consumers and midwives for comment.
----------
From: Vernon at Stringybark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 11:13:24 +1000
To: National consumers, ozbirth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: Nat consumers - midwives
Subject: Setting Up a National Maternity Consumers' body
Dear all,
RE PROPOSAL TO CREATE A NATIONAL MATERNITY CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION
In summary this email makes the following points:
1. there is widespread support for the idea of a national maternity
consumers body to lobby on national issues
2. any such body should complement not replace existing groups
3. there is value in having legal protection afforded by incorporation
4. an efficient way to set up a national body is to link up with an
existing organization
5. your group's views are sought on the prospect of joining either AIMS
or Maternity Coalition with a view to forming a national body.
INTRODUCTION
There has been an overwhelmingly positive response to my email of 17
September inviting interest in the idea of forming a new national maternity
consumers body of some sort. Enthusiastic support has come from all parts
of Australia from Far North Qld round to WA. Thank you to all those who
forwarded the 17 Sept email. Thanks also to all those who replied.
I have appended the original message below for those of you who did not
receive the 17 Sept email. On recommendation from midwives and other
consumers I have extended the list of email recipients to try and cover as
many consumer organizations as possible. If you are NOT interested in
receiving any further emails on this topic please send me a reply and I will
remove you from the list.
If you know of a consumer or midwifery group not covered in the email list
above but who may be interested in participating in a national maternity
body please forward this message to them.
I apologize for this being a lengthy email - please note the invitation
under the heading of 4. YOUR GROUPS VIEWS ARE NOW SOUGHT... to comment on
the issues raised here either as a REPLY ALL or to me by 31 October or ASAP
thereafter.
OVERVIEW
1. YOUR VIEWS TO DATE....CONSUMERS & MIDWIVES VIEWS
2. POINTS OF CONSENSUS
3. SO WHERE TO FROM HERE? - PROFILES OF AIMS & MATERNITY COALITION
4. YOUR GROUPS VIEWS ARE NOW SOUGHT...
5. BACKGROUND - ORIGINAL 17 SEPT EMAIL
1. YOUR VIEWS TO DATE....
The following are a sample of the comments received from people to date:
....FROM COMSUMERS
I am delighted to have been forwarded your email. It sure looks as if the
time is fertile for a national consumer body...(Brisbane)
I am in Cairns, North Qld and would be happy to join in a coalition for
midwives & mothers. How can I contribute?
Would be interested in joining up. I am currently an active member of the
Maternity Coalition and run Choices after Caesarean: Empowering Women in
Melbourne.
This proposal seems to be an important one, and certainly one that consumer
groups like ourselves should be involved in right now.
I am part of Birthplace Support Group (in Perth) - our local birth choices
network - and I am sure that we would be interested in being part of a
national coalition of some sort.
Creative Birth Options - recently formed info and support group - we're are
tiny but we're very enthusiastic and took front page of 2 newspapers in the
area today!!! Please let us know what we can do to help.
....FROM MIDWIVES
I am most anxious to see a collaborative effort of all consumers and
midwives to continue. There is still much progress to be made and perhaps an
umbrella organization would be most useful in achieving those common goals
and best utilizing energies Lets continue to move forward in unity.
I have been reading Kerreen Reiger's new book, 'Our Bodies Our Babies: the
forgotten women's movement'. It deals with a lot of the history of
childbirth reform, and one of the points she makes is that childbirth
groups have tended to be small and with organizational difficulties. There
has been in the past a lot of duplication of effort, and women are trying
to do it all at the same time as carrying and nurturing babies. My vision
is that [a national body]...can overcome some of the fragmentation and
inefficiencies of the past. I think this idea is great - and wish you every
success.
Great idea, I think a national approach is the way to go, to lobby in an
organized planned way, that can link all the various groups.
I have found the last few weeks overwhelming. So much to do and the feeling
that as a group, women and midwives have so little power compared to AMA and
such. For this reason, I think it is important that we band together to pool
our resources and support each other. We won't get far if every town, State
is re-inventing the wheel. But we will burn out quickly. Most of us have
young families: a huge commitment in itself. I fully support the idea that
we form a National group
2. POINTS OF CONSENSUS
I have spoken to many of you on the phone, by email or in person in the past
3 weeks, including consumers from all States except Tasmania and the NT
(anyone know of a contact person for maternity consumers there?). There
would seem to be pretty strong consensus on the following points:
1. that it is timely to form some kind of national coalition of
maternity/birth consumer organizations. While individual organizations are
doing much to support their local communities and some are actively lobbying
State/Territory governments, we could hope to wield much greater influence
(especially at national level) through presenting a united front when
lobbying.
2. that any new national body should be as broadly representative as
possible of the variety of consumer organizations currently in existence.
That a new body would NOT seek to replace or change the focus of any
existing organization. Rather its aim should be to provide a mechanism for
each organization to effectively network with other organizations active in
the same field - i.e. A COALITION
3. that a national body could significantly increase the efficiency of our
lobbying efforts both nationally and in each locality, through more
effective sharing of information and experiences. Given that we all have
busy lives it would save on re-inventing the wheel, and enable a broader
spectrum of organizations to benefit from the efforts of any individual in a
given locality (e.g. sharing press releases, articles for local journals,
etc). It could provide consumers and supportive midwives with a quick and
effective mechanism to exchange experiences, provide advice, and generally
support each other (we all bring different skills to the role of consumer
activism - it makes sense for everyone to benefit from the skills of active
individuals Australia wide)
4. that any national body should have incorporation. This point was
strongly reinforced by various examples provided to me in recent weeks of
cases where RANZCOG has acted quite aggressively to oppose activities by
some consumer groups. Legal protection as provided by incorporation will be
essential to protecting the individuals involved in any press release,
lobbying, etc undertaken on behalf of the organizational members of a
national coalition.
3. SO WHERE TO FROM HERE?
There is sufficient consensus on the need for and preliminary objectives of
a national consumer body that I believe we should go ahead and set one up.
One option would obviously be to establish a new incorporated body, with a
new constitution, bank account, office holders etc, etc. But if we are
truly committed to avoiding wasting scarce time and energy, a much more
sensible way forward is to utilize an existing organization if possible.
To date 2 organizations have expressed interest in principle in the idea of
'hosting' a new national consumer body. The details of how either of these
organizations would provide the national umbrella group we are after would
need to be thrashed out once we have worked out whether consumer groups
across Australia are comfortable with this idea. The two potential 'hosts'
are
2. The Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS)
2. The Maternity Coalition
Both organizations are currently incorporated. I have included a brief
outline of each organization below. I invite you to provide comment via
REPLY ALL on whether your organization might be interested in joining a
national coalition under the auspices of either of these organizations,
which one you would prefer and why.
.....THE ASSOCIATION FOR IMPROVEMENT IN MATERNITY SERVICES
AIMS Philosophy ....
We believe that parents must have a place to turn to for support and
encouragement. We are a group whose objectives are to campaign for
improvements in all aspects of maternity care, and to publish and collect
information. AIMS is committed to the rights of parents to have real choices
in birthcare, and to the right to make informed decisions about their care.
What AIMS Does.....
Consumer Advocacy; Community Education; Consumer information; Individual
Assistance; and Networking with other groups (AIMS is committed to providing
an opportunity for various groups to consolidate their resources, energy and
skills when working to improve birthing services.)
History of AIMS....
AIMS was established in Australia in 1992 following a visit by a leading UK
AIMS activist.
How AIMS is set up...
AIMS currently has a national executive of 7 members, comprising 5 from Qld
and 2 from NSW. AIMS has a state representative system in place.
Recent work....
AIMS was instrumental in collecting petitions to force a quick policy
adoption in Qld public hospitals to remove the ban on water births last
year. AIMS prepared a submission to the Rocking the Cradle enquiry. AIMS
has been active in ensuring that Redlands Hospital keep their community
midwifery scheme. AIMS is currently collecting petitions on the midwifery
insurance issue, combined with request to House of Reps to recognize
midwifery as an autonomous profession entitled to both insurance access and
medical rebates.
Website.....No Australian site at present. UK site is at www.aims.org.uk
How AIMS could provide a national body...
Our framework and constitution give us the potential to become the umbrella
group - if others wanted that, allowing each other group to retain their
autonomy. Before AIMS could proceed to become the national body it would
need unanimous support of the AIMS National Committee. Options that could
be thrashed out include individuals could pay a small additional sum when
joining or renewing their current group membership and thereby become a
member of AIMS at the same time.
.....THE MATERNITY COALITION Inc
MC Philosophy...
Our vision is for birthing women to achieve improved access to information
bout maternity services, genuine choice of caregiver and birthplace, access
to holistic midwifery models of care, and enhanced postnatal support
systems. MC encourages a 'woman-centred' approach to the birth process;
regards pregnancy and birth as normal physiological processes rather than
illness; stresses the social cultural and psychological factors influencing
childbirth; advocates midwives as primary carers of women in normal birth;
emphasizes women's right to make informed choices about their caregiver and
place of birth; promotes continuous assessment and critical evaluation of
technologies used in maternity care; supports development of services
sensitive to women's varied cultural and physical needs.
What MC does...
The Maternity Coalition is a non-profit organization made up of support
groups and individuals working to improve maternity care...Our goals and
activities include putting pressure on governments and hospitals, sharing
information through workshops, local and national networking and supporting
each other in friendship...The Maternity Coalition brings together mothers
and midwives with diverse skills and experiences. We share a passionate
commitment to improving the care of women in pregnancy, birth and the
postnatal period.
History of MC....
Maternity Coalition was formed in Victoria in 1990 as an umbrella
organization for consumer and midwifery organizations in that State. It had
begun as a taskforce of the Sydney based Maternity Alliance, lobbying around
the Victorian Ministerial Review of Birthing Services. As MA's constitution
did not seem to allow a variety of effective collaboration between mothers
and midwives, a separate organization was then incorporated.
How MC is set up....
MC has a constitution which specifically provides for both individuals and
organizations to be members. The executive committee of MC is currently
based in Melbourne. MC also has an active branch in Canberra. Individual
members have now joined from most states.
Recent work....
MC launched the Australian Midwifery Campaign earlier this year which calls
on governments and hospitals to provide access for all women to choose a
midwife as their primary caregiver during pregnancy and birth within the
health system (public and private) whether in the community or in hospital.
MC prepared a submission to the Rocking the Cradle enquiry and to Victorian
and ACT government enquiries into maternity services. MC is actively
lobbying federal politicians, as well as State and Territory governments, to
address the professional indemnity insurance crisis for midwives and to
respond to the goals of the Midwifery Campaign.
Website.... see www.maternitycoalition.org.au. This site, now financially
supported by Capers, has proved very popular. It could readily be adapted
and extended to provide internet support and services to groups Australia
wide which choose to become MC members.
How MC could provide a national body...
The details of how MC could most effectively support groups wishing to
participate in a national network/body could be worked out with each
interested group. The MC constitution makes provision for three types of
membership:
4.1 Types of membership are:
4.1.1 Individual membership
4.1.2 Individual membership which is linked to membership of a
participating group, or a branch. Each member in this case is a member of
both the Association, and the participating group / branch, and each member
pays the Association's prescribed fee, as well as the membership fee set by
the participating group / branch.
4.1.3 Group membership, in which case a group pays a single group member
fee, entitles that group to a single vote, and a single copy of
publications of the Association.
Possibilities range from MC providing internet support to an informal
national network or working group, through to groups wanting cover from MC's
incorporation becoming members under 4.1.2. It would also be possible under
the existing MC constitution to create State Branches of MC, to act as an
umbrella group for any consumer and midwifery groups active in the sane
State, if interested. Whichever option proves most viable, the formation of
a national committee to issue press releases, share info & expertise between
States, etc, could be worked out so that all States/Territories are
represented. Any national press releases etc issued by a national working
group could include the names of all member groups.
YOUR GROUPS VIEWS ARE NOW SOUGHT...
Please send either a 'reply all' message or one to me to indicate whether
you organization would be interested in joining an EXISTING organization to
form a national maternity consumer body.
If yes, please indicate whether your group would be interested in joining
AIMS, Maternity Coalition or either.
If NO, please outline your group's reasons/concerns.
When replying, please specify the name of your group and the
State/Territory.
If possible please respond before 31 October 2001 or as soon as possible
thereafter. Once we have a feeling on the range of views we will be better
placed to move on to the task of working out some details on how a national
body might best be created.
I look forward to hearing from you....
Yours in birthing solidarity (to borrow someone else's well coined tern),
Barb Vernon
(Maternity Coalition, ACT)
5. BACKGROUND - ORIGINAL 17 SEPT EMAIL
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From: Vernon at Stringybark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 08:45:27 +1000
Subject: Proposal for a National Maternity Consumers' Association
Dear midwife,
FYI and could you please forward to any interested consumers you are aware
of...
Dear fellow consumer activist,
WHY THIS EMAIL?
In the current climate of lobbying for changes in the delivery of maternity
services, particularly for governments to ensure women continue to have
access to independently practicing midwives, consumers have a vital role to
play. Our voices will be essential if the current dominance of maternity
care by a high technology, medicalised model is to be successfully
challenged. Midwifery care, in the true sense outlined by the World Health
Organization, has been proven to produce better outcomes for the majority if
not all women and babies. Yet at present in Australia a very small
percentage of women have access to midwifery models of care in birth centres
or at home.
Since the onset in July of the crisis brought about by the withdrawal of
professional indemnity cover for independent midwives, the level of activism
by consumer organizations around Australia has been fantastic. Consumer
organizations, often in collaboration with midwives, have done much to raise
public awareness of the importance of this issue to birthing women.
In many States/Territories politicians and health officials have also been
lobbied.
SO WHY THIS PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL BODY?
There would be great value in all of the various consumer organizations
around Australia coming together (at least on the internet) to form a
national consumers organization of some sort.
We are all working in our various States for similar goals:
- the right of women to choose midwives as their primary caregiver for
pregnancy, birth and postnatally...
- the rights of consumers to be provided with information to enable them
to make informed decisions about obstetric interventions...
- for pregnancy and birth to be treated as a normal albeit significant
event in a woman's life not as an illness...
- for women to be provided with care that recognizes and respects the
emotional element of giving birth not just the medical...
- for maternity services to be sensitive to women's differing cultural
and physical needs and to treat birth with great respect...
- etc...
A national consumer body would enable us to put out press releases on
national issues, to quickly share information and experiences, and to
represent a much larger number of women when lobbying politicians,
bureaucrats and other decision makers. It would help bring home the message
that there is widespread consumer demand for a better deal from our
maternity services. And importantly it would give consumers the ability to
represent views to federal politicians, bureaucrats and media with a much
wider membership base than any of the organizations have on their own. In
the current pre-election climate this would be a major advantage.
HOW WOULD A NATIONAL BODY WORK?
This would need to be determined by those interested in being involved. One
possibility is that a national association - whatever it might be called -
could be a loosely configured organization operated mainly via email and
internet. It could be made up of member organizations rather than
individuals - with individuals continuing to belong to their relevant local
organization. The national body could involve a few key people nominated
from each State/Territory organization to be part of a 'virtual'
decision-making group that could quickly put out national press releases or
lobby pollies on issues that clearly have national relevance.
A National Maternity Consumers Association (just a thought for the name)
could exist fairly loosely, so that member organizations need not have any
loss of autonomy to do their own thing in their own State. Rather it could
exist in a form that enables it to represent national issues on a consensual
basis. Perhaps it could exist as an umbrella label only, with each
organization signing off on any press release for e.g. under their own name
and incorporation.
WHAT WOULD A NATIONAL BODY DO?
One of the reasons I am proposing this idea now is that on 26 September,
members of the Maternity Coalition, the Australian Society of Independent
Midwives and the ACMI are meeting with Wooldridge (Coalition), Macklin (ALP)
and Lees (Democrats) to lobby for the federal government to take a stand on
protecting and extending women's access to midwifery care. Everything is on
our side - the economics of midwifery models of care, the scientific
evidence on improved outcomes, consumer satisfaction with this model of
care. But we are challenging a very powerful lobby in the guise of the
Obstetricians associations. And we do not underestimate the political clout
of the medical establishment. They would stand to loose much if we were
ultimately to be successful in having a majority of women birthing with
midwives, and a minority referred to obstetricians where necessary. But
this issue is too important to stand back and not act. A national consumers
organization of some kind would assist with shoring up consumers credibility
and the strength of our (collective) arguments.
Other possible activities in the short term for a national organization
would be preparing a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission. The more submissions they receive on this issue the more likely
they will be to look into it as a priority.
SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
I am seeking expressions of interest from all consumer organizations around
Australia with an interest in improving maternity services and improving the
experience of birth for mothers and babies.
Please email me ASAP!! Please also forward this message to others whom you
may be aware of who may be interested. I welcome suggestions on how you
think it should/could work and who would like to be involved via the
internet.
regards,
Barb Vernon
Dr Barbara Vernon
Active Member of ACT Branch of the Maternity Coalition
Mother of 2 boys, 3yrs and 6 mths.
P.S. I have compiled the list of addressees from various emails posted to
the ozmidwifery mailing list over the past 2 months. If you have received
this message and it does not apply to you please excuse my having sent it to
you.
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