Media release – Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), 22 October 2024
Count The Babies
ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary Emily Shepherd said in Tasmanian hospitals, babies are not counted in staffing ratios.
“This can lead to dangerous understaffing and puts both mothers and babies at risk,” Ms Shepherd said.
“The ANMF believes that every baby born should be counted in midwifery workloads.
“At the moment, the ratio at best is often one midwife to six mothers in a post natal maternity unit. If four of those mothers have had their babies the ratio blows out to 1:10 or more if the mother has had a multiple birth i.e. twins – which is obviously unsafe.
“Currently, only individual tasks are allocated midwifery time e.g. taking a baby’s blood glucose level or delivering a naso-gastric feed under the existing Birthrate Plus Model. However, when you Count The Babies, you ensure safe staffing, better care of mother and baby and improved outcomes for Tasmanian families.”
Ms Shepherd said ANMF Tasmanian Branch is seeking parity with Queensland – where babies are now counted in staffing ratios.
Ms Shepherd said nurses will wear Count The Babies badges and hand out information to mothers and families. Midwives statewide will also write accounts of their daily workloads which will also be lodged as an incident report due to workloads and distributed to colleagues and the media.
