In a labour of love, midwifery graduates Amy and Feruza have spearheaded an initiative focused on enhancing women's comfort during labour.
Through extensive research and consultation with mothers and healthcare professionals, the midwives identified key barriers hindering the effectiveness of warm compress use and sought an innovative solution to address them.
Amy and Feruza said the ‘Warm Compress Initiative’ aimed to improve outcomes for women through the reduction of perineal tears in the second stage of labour and improve access to a warm compress for midwives.
The pair said traditional warm compress used in labour - that comprised of a bowl of irrigated water onto a sterile sponge - was both time consuming and inefficient.
“The key change proposed was to introduce a single use hygienic warm compress that has instant pop technology, allowing for quick heat activation, to an optimal temperature which can be used for up to 20 minutes,” they said.
Through the initiative, the dynamic duo were able to identify further opportunities for cost saving, a reduction in potential hazards such as spills and slips from water, and product wastage with the current warm compress practices.
Amy and Feruza said their initiative placed a strong emphasis on empowering mothers during the birthing process, by providing a more comfortable and efficient warm compress experience.
Discussing their win, they said they felt both excited and grateful that their efforts to improve current practice had been recognised.
“As new graduate midwives, we constantly strive to better our practice and provide quality maternity care that is consistent with Metro South Health's values,” they said.
“We are thankful to the nursing and midwifery educators and clinical facilitators for guiding, inspiring and motivating us on this journey. We are also thankful to all the wonderful Logan Hospital midwives who participated in our survey.”
Looking ahead, Amy and Feruza said they were committed to expanding their initiative to benefit even more women, with plans to integrate the instant warm compress into birthing packs hospital wide.