Partnering With Women

WHA is committed to optimising the health and wellbeing for women and families throughout their maternity care journey. We advocate for the provision of culturally safe environments that are responsive to the diverse needs of women & families.

A key way that services can ensure they deliver care that meets the diverse needs of women is through partnering with for women and families in the design & delivery of maternity & newborn services. In addition, WHA is committed to facilitate shared decision-making & foster a positive maternity & early parenting experience. WHA supports health services to partner effectively with women & their families, and foster positive experiences by: 

  • Supporting the sharing of strategies and learning
  • Facilitating collaboration among member services 
  • Supporting a maternity consumer network 
  • Advocating for increased access to continuity of midwifery care
  • Supporting the development and uptake of maternity patient reported experience and outcomes measures  

Monash Partners Consumer and Community Engagement

A Consumer and Community Involvement Platform that supports healthcare providers, researchers and managers to work in partnership with consumers and community members. (Link is external)

Sharing Innovation

WHA Networks provide the opportunity to share innovative approaches to improving care and outcomes.  

Maternity Consumer Representative Network

To support consumer representatives in their role WHA provides the opportunity for maternity consumer representation at WHA member maternity hospitals to meet with a peer network.   The network aims to facilitate sharing of experience and insights among consumer representatives into how maternity services can best engage with, and respond to, consumer’s views in the design & delivery of their services. It also provides a pool of expertise for WHA members to canvass ideas/seek advice on issues related to efforts to improve consumer’s experience of their maternity care. Consumer representatives at member services also have access to a secure space on the WHA website to share information and resources. If you are a consumer representative at a hospital or health service find out if your hospital is a member of WHA, so that you can participate in the  WHA Maternity Consumer Network.  

Maternity Patient Reported Outcomes and Experience Measures

WHA is committed to ensuring that women and their families are consulted & engaged in the design & delivery of care & services and that feedback from women and their partners can be used to drive improvement in care provided throughout the maternity journey. Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) and Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are valuable tools for gathering patient feedback regarding the care that they received. PREMs provide insight into the quality of care received whilst PROMs provide insight into the impact of the intervention or therapy on the patient.  The use of these tools in maternity care is important to capture the experience of women and families receiving care, with the goal of improving efficacy, safety and quality of the care provided.