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Australian Midwives  

post #1 of 8
1/30/08 at 2:59am
Thread Starter 
My family and I are possibly moving to the gold coast of australia in the next year. I am an aspiring midwife, currently living in the US. I would like to know the best steps to becoming a midwife and also what requirements there are. What's life like for midwives there.
any advice or additional info would be much appreciated!
thanks!!!
post #2 of 8
1/30/08 at 4:04am
Most midwives are CNMs. There is now (finally!) a direct-entry path as well, but I believe it's only for certain states. If you are not an Australian citizen you may also have a hard time getting licensed, though at least your licensing exam would be in English. (the country I currently live in, it's not). I'm friends with 2 CNMs from Australia, one in Adelaide and one out side of Melbourne... or is it Brisbane? One has some L & D time but has moved on to other things. The other was my midwife at a homebirth here in Thailand. She is very hands off considering her training but I attribute that to working overseas as a homebirth midwife. She currently works as a post-partum nurse at a hospital with high twin rates (IVF, etc), doing a lot with breastfeeding. She also is the midwife to hook up with if you want a drug free birth there because she's the only one that doesn't push the meds. Let me know if you want contact info for her! She's the midwife that inspired me to become one!
post #3 of 8
1/30/08 at 4:09am
Oh, and send a PM to majikfaerie. She's a midwife currently living in New Zealand/Australia and can probably give you more details.
post #4 of 8
2/1/08 at 8:30am
Try www.joyousbirth.info

There are lots of threads there about how to become a midwife. As the PP said, you can either become an RN and then do a one year post-graduate midwifery course, or some universities are now starting to offer three or four year direct entry midwifery degrees.

Either way, it involves long-term tertiary study, there are no apprenticeships like in the US - which is a shame.
post #5 of 8
2/1/08 at 9:41pm
I should point out that Australian L&D units are entirely staffed by midwives in Australia, not L&D nurses like in the US.
post #6 of 8
2/3/08 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wannabe View Post
I should point out that Australian L&D units are entirely staffed by midwives in Australia, not L&D nurses like in the US.
Yep and to add to that, maternity units on a whole have midwives working in them, not single certificate RNs.
post #7 of 8
2/3/08 at 11:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by koala17 View Post
Yep and to add to that, maternity units on a whole have midwives working in them, not single certificate RNs.
so if i go the direct midwife course, 3 years i think. then i could still attend in a hospital or birth center?
here in the US, direct entry midwives only attend home and birth center births. you have to have gone through the nursing and then midwifery course to attend in hospitals...
thanks for all your help!
post #8 of 8
2/4/08 at 8:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by madhavi View Post
so if i go the direct midwife course, 3 years i think. then i could still attend in a hospital or birth center?
here in the US, direct entry midwives only attend home and birth center births. you have to have gone through the nursing and then midwifery course to attend in hospitals...
thanks for all your help!
You might also consider that independent midwives are not able to purchase professional indemnity insurance in Australia. If you are working as a homebirth midwife, you will be uninsured.
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