Antenatal Care
About
Antenatal care refers to the planned visits between a pregnant woman and a midwife or doctor to assess and improve the wellbeing of the mother and baby throughout pregnancy. Effective models of antenatal care focus on the individual’s needs and preferences, collaboration, and continuity of care.
Regular antenatal care in the first trimester is associated with better maternal health in pregnancy, fewer interventions in late pregnancy and positive child health outcomes.
By Five are committed to the advocacy of sustainable, safe, quality maternity care models for rural areas with local women and families at the centre.
Stories of Pregnancy & Birth
Local Stories from across the Wimmera
By Five is proud to release the Wimmera Southern Mallee Local Stories of Pregnancy and Birth – a group of stories we have collected from women across the region.
Each woman has provided a snapshot into their experiences of having children while living rurally, focusing on antenatal care, plus birthing, postnatal and Maternal and Child Health care. Each story is unique and every story is important to continue deepening our understanding of the challenges women can face in accessing care in the current system. These stories go beyond the financial strain of travelling for antenatal appointments, to the broader impact on the wider family unit, workplaces, careers and overall pregnancy experience.
We thank the women who have shared their stories and respect those who have preferred not to have theirs published. By Five intend to produce a second collection of stories as we continue to gather these important lived experiences to support our work towards ensuring women can access quality antenatal and postnatal care close to home.
Antenatal Care in the Wimmera Southern Mallee
Understanding the Story
Throughout 2022 and early 2023, By Five undertook extensive mapping work, whereby local health services, local government and women in the community were consulted to understand what antenatal care currently looks like in the WSM, their lived experience and what changes or improvements they would like to see.
Information was collected in the context of antenatal, domiciliary, post-natal care, and maternal and child health care.
This work resulted in a report that will inform future work in the antenatal space to improve outcomes for women, children and families.
What’s Next?
By Five are supporting local stakeholders to explore and understand their work with families from conception to school age as an example of rural practice.
If you are a parent or professional and would like to share your story, get in touch.