Elements and Performance Criteria
- Provide health information and support for pregnancy
- Provide information on maintaining good health during pregnancy and risk factors for the mother and baby
- Discuss issues relating to nutrition of mother and baby with mothers
- Provide information on birthing options, signs of labour, stages of labour, pain management techniques and family attendance at delivery
- Identify local birthing practices and cultural beliefs and discuss with women in planning and advocating for appropriate childbirth
- Discuss roles, relationships and responsibilities to support safe birthing, including the role of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Worker as an advocate for women and families
- Discuss and identify signs of onset of labour and support women to attend a birthing facility as required
- Provide physical and emotional support to women as appropriate during hospitalisation
- Provide health information and support after birth
- Provide information and support for self-care and wellbeing during the post-natal period
- Provide advice to mothers on routine care of the newborn
- Implement strategies to establish and support breast-feeding
- Discuss with the client the importance of nutrition, physical activity, rest, sleep and support with domestic tasks and care of family in the immediate postnatal period
- Identify minor post-natal problems for mother and newborn and provide appropriate advice
- Provide information on contraceptive options
- Follow-up mothers and babies
- Maintain registers of women undergoing antenatal care according to organisational policies and procedures
- Keep schedules of participation in antenatal care and use them to organise continuing care
- Organise reminders, transport and other assistance to attend care and/or provide according to women's needs
- Regularly update records according to organisation protocols
- Keep statistics on attendance for antenatal care and birthing outcomes and use to evaluate maternal health programs
- Implement strategies to improve maternal and/or neonatal health in line with community requirements and organisation guidelines