About the Campaign
Start Life with the Same Midwife is an Australian midwifery campaign dedicated to ensuring every Australian woman has access to start her baby's life with the same midwife.
Welcome to the Start Life with the Same Midwife campaign
There has never been a better time to start your baby's life with the same midwife. This campaign aims to make evidence-based research about continuity of midwifery care easy to access and understand, and, the evidence is clear - having the same midwife throughout your pregnancy offers excellent outcomes for you and your baby.
Research proves that women and birthing people who have midwifery 'continuity of care', that is, the same midwife throughout their pregnancy, birth and postnatally are more likely to have positive experiences, as well as less medical intervention. This type of care is safe and high value for women, their babies and health services.
Read the lay-friendly evidence and women's stories on this website, and follow @startlife_samemidwife on social media. Together, we can ensure every Australian woman starts her baby's life with the same midwife!
References
Nusring and Midwifery Board Australia (2024), Midwifery Futures Recommendations, https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/News/Midwifery-Futures/recommendations.aspx
Sandall J, Fernandez Turienzo C, Devane D, Soltani H, Gillespie P, Gates S, Jones LV, Shennan AH, Rayment-Jones H. Midwife continuity of care models versus other models of care for childbearing women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2024, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD004667. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004667.pub6.
Styles C, Kearney L, George K. Implementation and upscaling of midwifery continuity of care: The experience of midwives and obstetricians. Women Birth. 2020 Jul;33(4):343-351. doi: 10.1016/j.wombi.2019.08.008. Epub 2019 Aug 29. PMID: 31474386.
World Health Organization; (2024). Transitioning to midwifery models of care: global position paper. Geneva: : CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/379236/9789240098268-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y