Event Details
Zoom Meeting
17 April 2024
12:30pm - 1:30pm AEST
17 April 2024
– 17 April 2024
Zoom Meeting
17 April 2024
12:30pm - 1:30pm AEST
17 April 2024
– 17 April 2024
Presenters:
Mrs. Karen Sorensen
Nurse Midwifery manager, Womens and Childrens
Karen has worked in SWSLHD for 33 years. she is currently working as the Women & Childrens Midwifery Nurse manager at Campbelltown Hospital. Previous roles include Clinical Manager of Women’s and Children’s clinical stream, SWSLHD, clinical midwifery consultant, Campbelltown Hospital & birth unit manager, Fairfield & Bowral Hospitals. Karen has also spent 15 years working for RANZCOG teaching fetal surveillance on the FSEP program. Karen is a passionate midwife, who has spent many years advocating and working with teams on midwifery continuity models of care, CTG education & training, and providing leadership across maternity services.
Event Dates
Date: 17 April 2024
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm AEST
Date: 17 April 2024 – 17 April 2024
Location
Zoom Meeting
The art of changing the VBAC culture: Campbelltown Hospital
Improving Value in Healthcare
Zoom Meeting
About
NSW towards Normal Birth (TNB) Policy (PD2010 045) identified a need to support women and health professionals in providing consistent and balanced information regarding vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBAC). Our VBAC journey commenced in 2013, where the leadership team wanted to shift attitudes towards supporting VBAC. A collaborative programme between midwives and obstetricians was developed with a separate antenatal schedule for women who had had a previous caesarean. The programme included a debriefing of the previous birth by obstetric staff, followed by two group information/support sessions conducted by a midwife. The group sessions encourage discussion between women and their midwife to decrease fears and provide consistent information, encouraging women to an informed decision. The programme aimed to shift the organisational culture to actively support and encourage, where appropriate, a VBAC birth. The results indicated the programme is extremely successful.
The implications and relevance are that the program:
- Lowers caesarean section rates
- Individually addresses the physical, psychological, social, emotional, spiritual needs and the womans expectations regarding birth:
- Is an example of collaborative care that is cost neutral
- Minimises further morbidities with repeat caesareans
- Achieves the NSW Health TNB requirement - providing consistent, balanced information and increasing VBAC rates
- Provides greater job satisfaction for midwives in relation to their ability to provide advocacy and optimal outcomes for women.
