Dr Katherine McGrath Chief Executive Officer Hunter Area Health Service Locked Bag 1 Hunter Region Mail Centre, 2301 12/8/99 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Colleagues I am surprised and dismayed to hear about the decision to suspend the Team Midwifery Programme at the John Hunter and write to ask you to use your influence to reverse this decision. Quite apart from the distress to local women who are already booked with these midwives and the narrowing of choice for Hunter Region women in the future, the withdrawal of this service has serious implications for the development of maternity services across Australia and throughout the Western world. As you are well aware, the John Hunter Team Midwifery Programme has been Australia's flagship in terms of a well-established model that provides midwifery continuity of care and effective collaboration. The randomised-controlled trial carried out by Rowley et al documented the work of this project and is one of the few international studies on continuity of care deemed worthy of inclusion in the Cochrane Collaboration Database. This means that the Team Midwifery Programme at the John Hunter has international repute and is cited as an example of 'best pratice' wherever innovative midwifery continuity of care programmes are being introduced. Across Australia, numerous government reports in the last decade have urged the implementation of midwifery continuity of care programmes. Their recommendations highlight women's expressed needs to have consistent, personalised care from midwives who collaborate with other health professionals in an appropriate manner. The John Hunter Team Midwifery Programme has provided a gold standard in such woman-centred care with proven lower intervention rates and increased maternal satisfaction. I trust that with due consideration, a way will be found to ensure that women and families in the Hunter region continue to benefit from this excellent service and that this prestigious project will therefore continue to inspire and encourage the development of similar models across Australia. I trust that you and your colleagues will address this retrograde decision as a matter of urgency. Yours sincerely Nicky Leap Senior Research Fellow, Midwifery The Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001 Tel: (08) 8201 3442 Fax: (08) 8201 3410 Home: 'Cennednyss', Summertown, SA 5141 Tel/Fax: (08) 8390 1069 cc: Ms Judith Meppem, Chief Nursing Officer, NSW Health Department 73 Miller St North Sydney NSW 2060 Ms Anne Saxton, Director of Nursing, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, John Hunter Hospital Mr Craig Knowles, Minister for Health, NSW Ms Jillian Skinner, Shadow Minister for Health NSW Professor W. Walters, Chairman, Division of O&G, John Hunter Hospital Team Midwives, John Hunter Hospital The Right Honourable Michael Wooldridge, Minister for Health -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
