S50 Creative arts space: New life — free-standing sculpture Ngaire Green was born in New Zealand and ran a babywear manufacturing business in Adelaide for 20 years prior to studying. She is now a practising midwife at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. A member of Zonta, she instigated their popular Breast Cushion Community Project supporting women undergoing breast cancer treatment. Ngaire met conceptual sculptor, Heron Kirkmoe while volunteering in an Adelaide Palliative Care Unit. Heron has been merited with awards and recently exhibited at Melbourne’s Brunswick Street Gallery. The New Zealand Koru symbol incorporated into this sculpture depicts a fern frond before it has completely unfurled, representing an undeveloped potential for Life’s Journey and an expectation of growth and vitality. It reflects my profession as a midwife, supporting new life entering this world and the beginnings of a new generation. The sculpture was commissioned in appreciation of the opportunity Australia granted me in beginning a new phase of my life and fulfilling a lifelong dream to become a midwife. It represents a blending of my life experiences, both from Gisborne New Zealand where I was born and raised, and from Adelaide Australia, where I met my husband, raised two children and achieved my dream. The work is a conceptual expression of ‘New Life’ unfolding. Influenced by the Koru in form — steel and recycled copper merge to demonstrate the interconnectedness of one creation with another. doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2011.07.010 Creative arts space: postgraduate midwifery students parent education craft Michelle Gray is a Lecturer of University of the Sunshine Coast, Program Leader for the Masters in Midwifery at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. The participants are midwifery students in the Masters in Midwifery Program at the University of the Sunshine Coast are postgraduate nurses with clinical placement contracts at Nambour Hospital and the Sunshine Coast Private Hospital, Buderim. The students are Emma Annetts, Cheryl Armstrong, Stacey Enchelmaier, Susanne Geraghty, Marita Heck, Erin Hogg, Amber Jenkins, Kerryn Lavercombe, Hannah Lindstrom, Emmalane Paynter, Alison Rose, Corene Schwartz, Amy Sparreboom and Darcie Touton. Student midwives were presented with the challenge of creating an educational tool to assist them in delivering a parent education session, which would meet the different learning needs of prospective parents. Preparation of the educational aid required the students to consider the learning needs of different individuals and groups, and create a teaching tool to assist them to deliver their message to their target audience. Students took the journey of discovery together to identify alternative ways of teaching, discovered creative skills they did not know they possessed and met their challenge of meeting the needs of different learners (activists, reflectors, pragmatists, and theorists). Their innovations enabled them to transcend cultural differences by overcoming communication difficulties by using
Abstracts visual aids, to reach individuals who are non-readers or for whom English is not their first language. Students produced a variety of teaching aids; massage blanket, leaflets, CD, a plasticine model of a vagina and cervical dilatation, posters, flip charts. A ‘Massage Blanket’ with a centre place to lie the baby and photographs around the baby’s body depicting the part of the body and massage movement. Another student created a tool specifically for women with a planned caesarean section; simulating the different rooms a woman would encounter during her operation (theatre preparation (epidural), operating theatre, and recovery). The student used this teaching aid to role play the woman’s transition through the procedure. The learning aid facilitated detailed explanations around procedures, and generated discussion in order to answer any questions the woman and her support person may have. This activity encouraged students to examine their aims and objectives of parent education, and enabled them to appreciate the diversity of individuals we provide care and information to. doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2011.07.011 Performance: The Lactits The Lactitis are three midwives who work varying fields of midwifery practice on the NSW Central Coast. They came together as a singing group in 2005. They won the Central Coast Area Health Service Idol Talent Quest in 2005 and came second in 2006. In 2006 and 2007, they performed for the Lactation College Conferences. The Lactitis are Melissa Hoye, Anne Maree Thom and Lyn Deacon. The Lactits cleverly promote the benefits and joys of Breastfeeding through the art of voice, comedy and roleplay. This amazing trio are 100% Innovative with nothing else around like it in the world creating an hysterical and exciting relief when approaching and learning about breastfeeding. doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2011.07.012 Creative arts space: crossing the bridge together Janine Lebois comes from a small remote country town which is on the far west coast of South Australia. She has been working in the Health Field for eight years spanning country hospitals, and this commenced training as an Aboriginal Maternal Infant Care (AMIC) worker. Sherrelle Khan is an Aboriginal woman from Port Augusta. After completing year 12 she has worked in a variety of roles including as a Receptionist, Enrolled Nurse, Patient Care assistant before settling as an AMIC worker. Aim: To support midwives in their desire to work in partnership with Aboriginal women. This will be achieved by developing a collage of individual scenes, based on personal reflections from the Aboriginal Maternal Infant Care (AMIC) workers, working in the newly established Metropolitan Aboriginal Family Birthing Program (MAFBP) in Adelaide. Each scene will illustrate and explain situations whereby midwives have been observed working effectively in partnership with birthing Aboriginal women and AMIC workers, thereby supporting other midwives to incorporate these