The inaugural Mary Kirk Fellowship was awarded in 2021 to Professor Hannah Dahlen AM, Professor of Midwifery, Discipline Leader of Midwifery and Associate Dean (Research and Higher Degree Research) at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, to produce a lecture and paper on the 2019 COAG plan: Woman-Centred Care: Strategic Directions for Australian Maternity Services.
The lecture, titled The good, the bad and the possible, led by Professor Dahlen with an expert panel, was broadcast via live webinar on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, to almost 700 viewers.
The lecture and discussion presented a critique of the plan, considering the international evidence, policy documents and interviews with stakeholders, and offered a way forward.
Mary Kirk participated in the expert panel discussion that followed the lecture and was consulted on the accompanying paper.
The paper, titled ‘A comparison of the Woman-centred care: strategic directions for Australian maternity services (2019) national strategy with other international maternity plans,” was published in Women and Birth, the official journal of the Australian College of Midwives, on 13 April 2022, following peer review.
You can read a copy of the paper online here. Alternatively, you can download a copy below:
maternity services (2019) national strategy with other international
maternity plansDownload
You can view a recording of the lecture and panel discussion here:
This project was funded by the Canberra Mothercraft Society under the Mary Kirk Fellowship.