The Joondalup Community Midwifery Program (CMP) officially opens today, bringing maternity care closer to home for women in the northern suburbs.
The new dedicated community clinic will provide pregnancy health services for women throughout the course of their antenatal, home or hospital birth and postnatal period, and can also include parent education classes and lactation support.
Situated in the Lakeside Joondalup Shopping Centre, the clinic has an external facing entrance and easy access to parking.
Women who choose to use these services will have access to the same quality of care they would receive in a hospital environment, with the added bonus of a more personalised relationship with their allocated midwife.
Established in 1996, the Community Midwifery Program is a national beacon for home birthing in Australia and is the only publically funded home birth program of its kind to provide community-based, midwifery-led continuity of care for low-risk women.
CMP offers the option of birthing at home, at the Family Birth Centre, in standalone birthing rooms or at a public hospital with a known midwife. A team of 14 midwives provide services to about 400 ‘low-risk’ women per year from three clinics in Joondalup, Kalamunda and Cockburn.
The CMP operates under the governance of King Edward Memorial Hospital yet continues to maintain successful collaborative relationships with clinicians throughout the Perth metropolitan area. Under the program, midwives and women are able to access several public hospitals – so if a transfer becomes necessary, care remains seamless.
As stated by Health Minister Roger Cook:
“The new Joondalup clinic is bigger and better; most importantly it offers a more convenient, community-based environment with a sole focus on maternity care for women in the northern suburbs of Western Australia.
“The Community Midwifery Program keeps health care closer to home by providing around 400 women per year with community-based, midwifery-led care for low-risk women. It is the only publically funded home birth program of its kind in Australia.”
