Contact us
For more information on this project, and the subsequent Midwives Audit-C Intervention Project, please contact Tracy Reibel.
Who conducted this research?
Researchers
- Dr Jan Payne: Research Program Manager, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
- Dr Rochelle Watkins: Senior Research Fellow, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
- Winthrop Research Professor Carol Bower: Senior Principal Research Fellow, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
- Dr Tracy Reibel: Collaboration for Applied Research and Evaluation, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
- Dr Amanda Wilkins: Paediatrician and Honorary Research Fellow, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
- Dr Raewyn Mutch: Paediatrician and Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
- Ms Heather Jones: Manager FASD Projects, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia
Steering Group
A multidisciplinary Steering Group guided the project and will include researchers, and a consumer and community representative.
Midwifery Reference Group
A Midwifery Reference Group advised the project as required, provide expert opinion, comment on interpretation of findings, and contributed to the utilisation and uptake of results of the research
Benefits of the research
This research has the potential to:
- influence and contribute to policies and strategies to prevent prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD
- influence and contribute to the development of educational resources for midwives
- influence and contribute to professional development for midwives
- deliver information about midwives' compliance with the WACHS Alcohol Brief Intervention Policy
- add value to future implementation and evaluation of activities involving midwives that are proposed by the WA Department of Health Child and Youth Health Network FASD Model of Care
- provide baseline information for future evaluation of changes in midwives' knowledge, attitudes and practice
- be published in peer reviewed journals so they are available for other health services and for evaluation of the outcomes stated above
What did we do next?
Published 2 papers in research journals
- Midwives' knowledge, attitudes and practice about alcohol exposure and at risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
- Development of a scale to evaluate midwives' beliefs about assessing alcohol use during pregnancy
Obtained funding to develop a workforce intervention up-skilling midwives in the documentation and brief intervention around alcohol use in pregnancy, to reinforce the community-wide interventions.