Welcome to the
Australian Rural
Maternity Association
For decades, rural maternity care in Australia has been neglected at the expense of our families and communities. Since 1990 half of our rural maternity units have been allowed to dwindle to closure, beautiful places like Gloucester, Bellingen, Barcaldine, Palm Island have lost their birthing services forcing families to travel further to birth their baby. This has likely contributed to the number of births en route to a hospital increasing substantially since the early 1990s.
7 million Australians live outside metropolitan cities and they contribute over $500 Billion to our economy. They deserve access to safe maternity, team-led care close to their home, in their community, with continuity of care and carer where possible.
Please consider joining us to learn more, to support rural maternity teams and elevate the voices of rural Australians in the birthing space.
Our aims and goals
To collate updated data of the staffing, activity and service provided by current rural maternity units
To understand and address the issues contributing to workforce maldistribution in the Australian maternity space
To provide collegiality, support and education for those working in rural maternity units in Australia (midwives, obstetric doctors, allied health, and aboriginal health workers, and students of each!)
To create a platform for the voices of consumers and patients across rural Australia, in order to advocate for equity in access to excellent healthcare for rural and remote communities
Acknowledgement of Country
The Australian Rural Maternity Association acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People as the traditional custodians of the Land on which we live and work, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the sovereignty of the Land we call Australia has never been ceded. We commit to listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, to understand and learn how we can improve experiences and outcomes of rural maternity care for First Peoples, their families and communities.
The ARMA is a ACNC Registered not-for-profit organisation with all proceeds going towards recruitment, retention, professional development and support for rural maternity teams across the country.
We’ve created this space for all advocates, researchers, clinicians, community allies and consumers of rural maternity because our united voices can achieve great things!