Karina has over 20 years of clinical experience in midwifery, child health, breastfeeding and lactation. She is driven to solve daily frustrations and preventable challenges families face caring for babies and young children. Using technology enabled care, research and best practice in a creative framework her goal is to involve families directly in their care.

This presentation will discuss the intense emotions experienced by couples with infertility undergoing treatment and some of the impacts. It will also discuss research in this area undertaken by Dr Alice Domar PhD. Lastly, ‘The Conceiving Mind’ program will be outlined. This is a proactive approach to fertility treatment using research-based strategies and techniques to help couples gain a sense of control over of their mental and emotional health from preconception and into early pregnancy.

Despite the quality and advances of Australia’s healthcare system, we cannot afford to wait to develop our digital maternity care systems any longer. What COVID-19 shows us is the importance of having a well-developed, integrated and interoperable maternal digital healthcare system. We should already have this now. The maternal health sector can and should lead digital health innovation. We save babies born far too early and mothers who are far too sick every day. This is our time to step up and to lead. Indeed, it’s our responsibility to do so.

Digital learning is an instructional practice that ultimately helps pregnant women and new parents. It makes use of a broad range of technology-enhanced educational strategies including blended learning, flipped learning, personalized learning and other strategies that rely on digital tools to a small or large degree.

Since the emergence of COVID-19, there have been huge changes in the way health services deliver care and guidance to new parents particularly in a digital format. The gaps or unintended consequences of COVID-19 in the maternity sector, and learnings to inform practice, have highlighted the need to integrate accredited evidence-based antenatal classes.

Recent results from our Nourish Baby survey have further shown that overwhelmingly 71% of expectant and new parents are seeking a combination of face-to-face and online classes, citing their top reasons as flexibility to listen and watch in their own time, at their own pace, with their partners and in an environment that is more akin to their individual learning style.

The ‘MT4C’ has been developed to help address the evidence-practice gap within contemporary maternity care. It is the first midwifery-specific implementation tool and is presented in the form of a progressive web application which can be accessed via any handheld or desktop device, or downloaded for use offline. It is being developed through consultation with change leader midwives in Australia and UK and contains key factors previously identified as being influential in pre-existing implementation frameworks refined to reflect midwifery practice.

In maternity care, paper hand-held records (PHR) have been successfully used for many years with the benefits of facilitating women-centred care, women’s participation in their care and improving communication between clinicians. Integration of care is particularly important for pregnant women who may see multiple clinicians both within the hospital and the community so the introduction of the iEMR held much promise. However, it is important that in the implementation of an EMR, the established benefits of a PHR are transferred and not lost. This study investigated the impact of iEMR in maternity of two health services in QLD on staff and women through survey, audit, observation and interview methods.

From hugs, tears, laughter, feeding babies together, music, yoga and dancing to COVID-safe practice. Our freshly developed digital community, MAMA, helps to keep the connection between expectant and new mums & their team. This platform facilitates 7 groups (from ‘Trying to conceive’ to ‘Motherhood’), an extensive library with videos and resources and weekly live Q&As with midwives and other practitioners. It is beneficial not only for Victorians but for all Australians.

In maternity care, paper hand-held records (PHR) have been successfully used for many years with the benefits of facilitating women-centred care, women’s participation in their care and improving communication between clinicians. Integration of care is particularly important for pregnant women who may see multiple clinicians both within the hospital and the community so the introduction of the iEMR held much promise. However, it is important that in the implementation of an EMR, the established benefits of a PHR are transferred and not lost. This study investigated the impact of iEMR in maternity of two health services in QLD on staff and women through survey, audit, observation and interview methods.

This presentation will provide an overview of the development of a novel app “YourTime,” which seeks to promote the psychological wellbeing of women during pregnancy and after birth. YourTime is built around an evidence-based scale which enables women to track their mood and recognize a deterioration in their mental wellbeing. It also aims to provide supportive resources on maintaining positive wellbeing.

Birth Sense Australia (BSA) is committed to empowering parents with skills, tools and knowledge for the perinatal period from an evidence-based perspective. The BSA online program comprises of 9 individual modules providing parents with skills to prepare for the birth, in a self-paced manner. All information shared is synergistic with information given in hospital-based classes and are applicable to all types of labour and births, and all models of care.

The “interviews with experts and friends” series is offered as a free resource for expectant and new parents. It is a library of holistic educational webinars with industry experts ranging from the mental health professionals, midwives, women’s health physios, obstetricians and dieticians.

The session will introduce ‘CaesarCare’, a series of digital courses and resources for women preparing for, and recovering from, C-section births. It will also share the innovative wound splint designed in 2018 to encourage women to protect and support their wounds from dehiscence during sudden movements such as coughing, sneezing and laughing. Lastly, we will preview the ‘C-section Recovery Manual – Your Body, Your Recovery’ due for release in both paper and digital copy in April 2021. The manual is designed to be used as a companion for women, their partners and carers during the postpartum period.

This session will focus on current trends of online education and who is consuming it, how to consider different types of adult education and learners, and considerations for rural and regional Australia. It will also address engagement and interaction between midwives and families, and assess whether this can be achieved via Zoom.

NSW Health supported the development of a “breastfeeding how-to” app. The app provides education to women having babies, their partners and support people. This presentation will cover why an app, where to start, funding opportunities, advertising, consumer involvement and engagement and app analysis.