Israel's Midwives Association is leading the process to implement the pregnancy care method of midwifery continuity care that was found to be effective for healthy pregnancies and births in an Australian study.
Midwifery continuity care is a system in which a woman has a midwife or team of midwives who gives her consistent support throughout her entire pregnancy and the birth of the baby.
The study, which was published in the peer-reviewed Women and Birth medical journal, found that women at varying levels of risk in their pregnancies had more consistently good pregnancies than women who didn't have midwifery continuity care.
Why is Midwifery continuity care better?
The researchers studied how midwifery continuity care affected a safe birth process for both the mother and the baby, building trust in the birthing room and positive communication throughout the process. The results showed that women in the study with higher-risk pregnancies had experiences and results that were as good as women who had low-risk pregnancies when they had midwifery continuity care.
The results of the study are believed to help find a way to make pregnancy healthcare more accessible to everyone regardless of social standing and geography.
The midwifery continuity care method has already been implemented in New Zealand, Britain, Finland and the Netherlands for all pregnant women, especially those in higher-risk pregnancies.
"The research proves that consistent care by the midwife from the beginning of the pregnancy significantly lowers the physical and mental risks and dramatically improves the birthing experience and its results," said Chairwoman of Israel's Midwives Association Yifat Hadar Robnanko.
"Israel has social healthcare gaps that are expressed in passing over treatments, not enough use of preventative medicine, giving up on services because of linguistic difficulties or not enough awareness and too many procedures."
Yifat Hadar Robnanko
Robnanko added that the model of consistent pregnancy support from midwives can help the midwives recognize physical or mental risks ahead of time and refer the women to the correct medical tests and give every woman in Israel the best response.
"Our goal is to build an organized work method together with the Health Ministry, healthcare providers and the Israeli Midwives and Gaenocology Union so that the support will include a personalized care protocol for every woman throughout the entire pregnancy and not just at the point of delivery."