Glossary
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- A person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
- antenatal
- The period covering conception up to the time of birth. Synonymous with prenatal.
- antenatal care
- An episode of care between a pregnant woman and a midwife or doctor to assess and improve the wellbeing of the mother and baby throughout pregnancy. It does not include care where the sole purpose is to confirm the pregnancy. Also known as an antenatal visit.
- birth centre
- Is commonly known as an alternative setting to the conventional hospital setting for labour and birth. These can either be within a hospital or separate to the hospital, that is, freestanding. A common feature in a birth centre is a homely space, midwife-led care with a philosophy of normality and avoidance of interventions. Only a small number of maternity services around the country have a birth centre by this definition.
- collaborative maternity carer(s)
- The health professional(s) who collaborate with the designated or lead maternity carer to provide care for women during the antenatal, intrapartum or postnatal stages of maternity care, based on the women's identified needs and individual circumstances. Collaborative carers have a planned role with each woman in the model of care, however, may not necessarily provide direct clinical care to them.
- complex or high-risk pregnancy
- A target group within the MaCCS. This is selected if the model is provided in a public hospital by multidisciplinary specialists for complex maternal, medical and fetal conditions and limited obstetric conditions. It is not used for conditions that require obstetric input such as high body mass index (BMI) or gestational diabetes.
- continuity of carer
- Continuity of carer means care is provided, or led, over the full length of a maternity period (the antenatal, intrapartum, or postnatal period) by the same named carer. Other caregivers may be involved in the provision of care, either as a backup to the named carer or to collaborate in the provision of care, however, the named carer continues to coordinate and provide ongoing care throughout. The MaCCS looks at the extent of continuity of carer across the continuum of maternity care (the antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods) within each model of care. There are 6 categories to describe the extent of continuity of carer within a model ranging from no continuity of carer across any stage of the maternity period to continuity of carer across the whole duration of maternity period – antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum.
- designated maternity carer
- The health professional who coordinates the care for a woman during the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal stages of maternity care, based on the woman's identified needs and individual circumstances. May also be known as the maternity care co-ordinator, primary or lead carer, or named carer within a model. In some cases, this may not be an individual but a multi-disciplinary team or shared care arrangement. The designated maternity carer may not always be the most senior clinician involved in the care of women in the model. Possible values for this data element include:
- specialist obstetrician – public
- specialist obstetrician – private
- general practitioner obstetrician
- midwife – public
- midwife – private
- midwife – privately practising
- general practitioner
- maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist
- Aboriginal maternal infant care practitioner
- nurse
- shared care
- multidisciplinary team
- other.
- group antenatal/postnatal sessions
- Some models of care offer antenatal and/or postnatal care in groups sessions such as the centering pregnancy ® model. Group sessions consist of two or more women and must include both education and clinical care in a group setting. This does not refer to ‘parenting’ classes or ‘antenatal education’ classes.
- hospital (excluding birth centre)
- Is a setting for birth that describes areas used for birthing in a hospital other than a 'birth centre'. These areas may be known by a variety of names such as birth suite, delivery suite, labour ward, labour and delivery.
- intrapartum
- Is the period from the commencement of labour and including the birth.
- major model category
- This is the overarching descriptor of a maternity model of care based on its characteristics. It describes the intent of a model of care. Although there is variation between different models of care, each can be grouped into one of 11 different categories based on their specific characteristics. These 11 categories are:
- combined care
- general practitioner obstetrician care
- midwifery group practice caseload care
- private midwifery care
- private obstetrician and privately practising midwife joint care
- private obstetrician specialist care
- public hospital high risk maternity care
- public hospital maternity care
- remote area maternity care
- shared care
- team midwifery care.
For a description of these see Major model category definitions.
- midwifery caseload
- A type of maternity care where women have a primary midwife assigned to them throughout pregnancy, labour and birth and the postnatal period. Each midwife cares for an agreed number (caseload) of women per year. Caseload midwives usually work on a 24-hour on-call basis (this may be organised within a group) and may be employed on an annualised salary. This is also known as a midwifery continuity of carer model of care and may be a private or public arrangement. Midwifery caseload may be managed within a midwifery group practice model where a small number of midwives join together in a group with each midwife having their own caseload and providing backup for the other midwives in the group practice. A key aspect of caseload midwifery practice that differentiates it from team midwifery models is that women have a named midwife, caseload midwives have a self-managed workload that is outside of a traditional roster structure and provides a high level of continuity of carer across the continuum of maternity care.
- perinatal
- Pertaining to, or occurring in, the period shortly before or after birth (usually up to 28 days after).
- postnatal / postpartum
- Pertaining to the period immediately after the birth and lasts for 6 weeks. The terms postpartum and postnatal are often used interchangeably (including in this report), however, ‘postpartum’ refers to the woman and ‘postnatal’ refers to the baby.
- routine relocation
- This is where the intention of the model of care is that all women cared for in the model require relocation from their communities to another location prior to labour for intrapartum care and birth. Routine relocation often applies to models where women reside in a rural or remote community where there is no access to an appropriate birth facility and are routinely relocated to a larger town or city some weeks prior to birth. This is not used if the model only requires the transfer of some women with increased risk factors due to complexities of pregnancy.
- target group
- Some models of care are targeted at specific groups of women with similar characteristics. These may be based on geographical area, risk status, obstetric or medical condition, or social/cultural characteristics. Having a target group does not necessarily mean the model is restricted to only those women (although the model is specifically targeted at them) and other women may also access the model of care. Some models are targeted at more than one group of women so multiple values for this data element may be selected. The possible values for this data element include:
- Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identification
- migrant or refugee
- low risk or normal pregnancy
- complex or high risk pregnancy
- breech presentation of fetus
- multi fetal pregnancy
- next birth after caesarean section
- planned homebirth
- maternal diabetes and other endocrine disorders
- maternal obesity or high body mass index
- maternal drug or alcohol use
- maternal age – young
- maternal mental health condition
- maternal remote area of residence
- other specific cultural groups not already specified
- other social groups not already specified
- other vulnerable groups not already specified
- other maternity target group.
See also Mothers and babies - glossary