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Ep 103  (http://ibit.ly/Re5V) Christine Catling on choosing home births, workforce sustainability and interdisciplinary advantages

@PhDMidwives #research #midwifery  #education #birthsetting #homebirth #UTS #ACM #workforce

research link - t.ly/XwoCO
https://australianmidwiferyhistory.org.au/

A purple-striped uniform, a corridor of hand-drawn portraits, and a decision that changed everything. That’s where Christine Catling starts—then she takes us through three decades of midwifery identity, home birth advocacy, and the quiet systems that make or break trust. We follow her move from UK nursing to Australian midwifery, the spark that led to a qualitative PhD on why women choose home birth, and the national consortium that helped publicly funded home birth services grow across Australia. The pattern is clear: when people feel seen and valued, services improve; when they don’t, the costs—human and financial—compound.

We dive into the workforce crunch with blunt honesty. Why are midwives leaving between years three and five? What does it cost to lose skills and continuity just as clinicians hit their stride? Christine shares promising findings from a cluster RCT on group clinical supervision and argues for cost analyses that count retention, recruitment, agency use, and the ripple effects on safety. The conversation also tackles freebirth and distrust of institutional care, not with judgment but with a hard look at what it takes to rebuild trust: first impressions that centre the person, informed consent that’s real, and models of care that let midwives do midwifery.

Along the way, you’ll hear how interdisciplinary work sharpens policy, why shared decision-making around induction and elective caesarean is a safeguard, and how compassion—eye contact, presence, a name—can change outcomes in seconds. We end with momentum: papers in the pipeline, global conversations with UK professional midwifery advocates, and a push to turn evidence into resourced policy that keeps midwives and families safer. If you care about midwifery, home birth, workforce sustainability, and humane care that actually works, this one’s for you.

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