Queensland is creating a new position of chief midwife and has committed to expanding maternity services after statewide calls to address staffing shortages and working conditions.
This week, Health Minister Shannon Fentiman announced a $16 million plan over four years, saying the addition of maternity services and a head adviser for maternity workers will have “significant impacts for mothers, babies and women.”
“I sat down with women who told me they want a choice, they want continuity of care, and they want it close to home,” said Fentiman.
The announcement follows demands from regional midwives who, last week, marched on Queensland parliament to call for urgent funding in an “unsafe” maternity crisis.
In the state’s June budget, the Palaszczuk government provided $42 million in maternity funding but made no allocation for midwives and midwife-led models of care, according to the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union (QNMU).
Secretary of the QNMU, Kate Veach said there aren’t enough staff to guarantee safe conditions for pregnant women and newborn babies in Queensland, citing a safety audit by the union which showed some midwives were allocated to care for up to 20 mothers and babies at one time.
Following the Health Minister’s discussion with midwives at the maternity roundtable, Canberra Times reports Veach is satisfied with what the Queensland government has proposed.
Speaking to the decision to create a new chief midwife position, Fentiman described the decision as making “complete sense” considering the state already has a chief nursing and midwifery officer.
Recruitment for a chief midwife will begin immediately, with an appointment expected in the coming months, said Fentiman.
Along with Queensland, chronic understaffing of midwives is occurring in every state and territory in Australia, as seen in last year’s National Skills Commission analysis. Many staff are saying this makes them unable to give women and newborns quality care.
“I regularly feel complicit in care that harms women,” an ACT midwife told the ABC.
Australian health department data shows the number of people working in midwifery declined from 2016 and 2022. This was despite a record 315,000 babies being born in 2021.