Celebrating rural women in regional Western Australia

Today, 15 October, we’re proud to mark the International Day of Rural Women.

Improving access to healthcare for women directly contributes to economic security, reduces hunger, improves educational outcomes, strengthens families and helps regional communities to flourish.

We’re working hard to support the thousands of intelligent, resilient, compassionate, fierce, determined and diverse rural women who live, work and raise families in regional WA.

Every year, we support more than 4,000 families across more than two million square kilometres to give birth.

We launched our Midwifery and Obstetrics Telehealth Service (MOETS) in February this year to provide additional, highly specialised 24/7 support to midwives, obstetrics teams and non-birthing sites across regional WA via our central virtual clinical hub.

Our highly experienced specialist lactation service consultants are also available statewide via telehealth, to offer support, advice and information and have been recognised for providing high quality care and support to country mums.

Last year, we successfully launched the innovative My Baby WA app, bringing a wealth of the most up-to-date, evidence-based information and advice from our child and women’s health teams to families across the state, no matter where they are located.

And we’re particularly proud that some of our sites are considered to be national leaders in the provision of Aboriginal antenatal care and that our midwifery group practices are continually recognised for excellence in patient-centred care.

We couldn’t do this without the hundreds of experienced and dedicated midwives who choose to live and work in regional WA, along with specialists like our Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Broome-based Dr Jared Watts, who dedicate their careers to improving the health of women in some of the world’s most remote communities.

#RuralWomen