Talking Maternity with Wimmera Women

We are continuing to work to understand the landscape of local antenatal care, both from a service perspective, and from the parent and community perspective. We have been speaking with women around the Wimmera about how they have experienced antenatal, and broader maternity care, throughout their pregnancies. Every story provides so much local knowledge, insight and context and although there are similar themes throughout, no one story or experience is the same.

Overwhelmingly what women are telling us, irrespective of where they live or birth their babies, is that having local support available both pre and postnatally has a significant and positive impact on their experience. Unfortunately, there are still many women across the whole region who are required to travel long distances for antenatal care, and often this is only available at their birthing hospital, not locally in their town. By Five will continue to collect stories from women to highlight the lived experience and local context as we advocate for equity in this space. 

“Our midwife was a welcoming and assuring face that provided me and my family with comprehensive care during one of the most vulnerable times in my life. I not only felt supported in her role as a midwife, but a holistic approach in regards to my whole family and situation.” ~ Parent, West Wimmera Shire

“My closest birthing hospital was 1.5 hours away, I tried to find shared care locally, but none was available. We also needed to book into the caravan park when I was 38 weeks pregnant so we could be close to the hospital. An expensive exercise!” ~ Parent, Yarriambiack Shire