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As midwives we believe that pregnancy, labour and birth are normal physiological processes. A normal part of family life, a powerful social and emotional life passage/event. In keeping with this belief, we do not routinely interfere with the normal process. Our role is to support women (this includes their partners & family) during this time working in partnership with them. A partnership evolved over time, which involves mutual trust and respect, knowledge and skill sharing.
We, as midwives, share our midwifery knowledge and skills, and women share their knowledge of their bodies, birthing and family histories with us. We trust that women's bodies know what to do and women in turn, trust our professional judgment. In this way, we work together to achieve a safe and satisfying outcome. That is, a healthy mother who has had a positive birth experience, who thus, feels empowered and well prepared for motherhood. A healthy baby who is surrounded by family love from the beginning.
As part of our practice as midwives we endeavor to update our knowledge and skills by attending regular midwifery education workshops, attending conferences and using current evidence within our practice. We currently use the ACMI guidelines for referral during pregnancy and are also familiar with the NICE guidelines and the Victorian Three Centres Consensus guidelines for antenatal care.
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