Focusing on maternity services

28 July 2011

The New Zealand College of Midwives welcomes the recent release of the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC) report and the Minister’s announcement of strengthened quality frameworks for the maternity services.

The PMMRC report shows that the New Zealand maternity system has perinatal mortality outcomes as low as that of other developed countries - such as Australia and the UK. Further improvement in mortality outcomes can only be managed by a better understanding of the causes of mortality including the effects of poverty, age, ethnicity and the influences of reproductive technology. Therefore good information collection systems are imperative.

We note that in the PMMRC data one of the major factors contributing to avoidable maternal or perinatal death was a lack of access or barriers to access for women into the health services. Women under twenty or over forty remain the most vulnerable to poor outcomes for a variety of reasons which requires further research in order to improve their outcomes.

The New Zealand PMMRC has developed a first class data collection system, supported by midwives, which provides a complete dataset and a full picture of childbirth related mortality. Many developed countries have mortality datasets that are prone to under-reporting or incomplete mortality data due to a lack of such a comprehensive, fully networked system as the PMMRC.

The death of a mother or baby is always a tragedy and the College welcomes the Minister’s focus on improving the maternity system further. We have represented midwives as part of the multidisciplinary team which has developed the maternity quality improvements programme. This work has provided an opportunity to further strengthen the integrative collaborative relationships midwives have with their medical colleagues and other professional groups.

We remain concerned about the number of maternal suicides that have contributed to the high maternal mortality rate. Currently there are very few accessible maternal mental health services available for midwives to refer to. There is an urgent need both for the establishment of, and improvement in, maternal mental health services to assist midwives to work to support women and their families.

We look forward to working with the improved quality frameworks and other professional groups to make the maternity services more accessible, transparent and user friendly for all women and their babies.

ENDS

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