An apparent lack of guidelines for hospital midwives in Australia on co-sleeping with newborns has prompted one midwife in Queensland to begin research into the extent of clinical practice guidelines available on the controversial topic.
Cassia Drever-Smith, an honours student at the University of Queensland, believes most Australian hospitals do not have publically available clinical guidelines on co-sleeping to guide midwives.
As a result, many resort to using their own experiences and cultural norms to advise mothers, or do not raise the subject at all, she said.
Ms Drever-Smith plans to survey the maternity wards of 304 Australian hospitals to find out what, if any, clinical practice guidelines they have on co-sleeping. Her study will include an online survey of midwives to gauge what they know about co-sleeping.
Speaking to newspaper
The Herald Sun, she said: ‘There are a lot of polarised views and that's why we need current evidence-based information provided to all practitioners.
‘In my experience I have found a great discrepancy in what you read in child-rearing books and what actually happens.
‘I've found anecdotally that most people at some stage co-sleep with children whether it be on a one-off basis or regular basis, but few admit to it because there's such a stigma attached to it.
‘And as a midwife I've noticed a number of different practices (by midwives).’
In England, the RCM does have clinical practice guidelines on co-sleeping. These are currently being updated and will be available in the autumn.
