With on in seven Queenslanders born at Mater Mothers’ Hospitals, Professor of Midwifery Sue Kildea has her hands full ensuring the wellbeing of mothers and their babies.
For more than 50 years, Mater Mothers’ Hospitals have been renowned as leaders in the provision of high quality maternity services—delivering a new generation of Queenslanders and providing exceptional care.
Mater is dedicated to advancing medical care for mothers and their babies through research, such as midwifery research conducted by Professor Kildea and her team.
One of the projects researchers are looking at is comparing the outcomes of one-to-one midwifery care—or caseload midwifery—with standard care for all women, and what model provides the best level of care to women before, during and after birth.
“The multi-site research is looking at the reorganisation of the way midwives work. Currently, women might see several midwives during their pregnancy which can cause mothers undue stress as they can receive lots of different advice and don’t know who to ring,” Professor Kildea said.
“Caseload midwifery means that the woman is assigned a single midwife for the duration of the pregnancy, right through to birth and when the mother goes home.
“We believe that this model can make a difference to the outcome for both mothers and babies, particularly those who have a higher preterm birth risk, and hope that the research will prove this.”
To find out how you can help fund this important research please contact Mater Foundation on 07 3163 8000.