Melissa Buultjens
| La Trobe University, Australia
Title: Antenatal care and education: Addressing common biopsychosocial morbidities to establish a holistic, multidisciplinary model of support to all childbearing women
Biography
Biography: Melissa Buultjens
Abstract
The antenatal period is a transitional time for parents-to-be, presenting various opportunities to maximise women’s health literacy and wellbeing. In spite of this, there are numerous maternal morbidities associated with pregnancy and childbirth, and while not all are necessarily life-threatening, they can have a significant impact on a woman’s quality of life. This can include both clinical (e.g. incontinence and gestational diabetes) and psychosocial impairment (e.g. depression and parenting self-efficacy), often resulting in long-term chronic morbidities. This substantiates the rationale for a review of antenatal care and education, or more broadly, how we can target and address potentially modifiable risk factors. Finally, a holistic maternity model will be presented with a focus on multidisciplinary service provision in maternity care to provide proactive, rather than reactive support to childbearing women