For further information, contact Melissa Maimann at Essential Birth Consulting.
Proposed laws which would stop mothers from accessing registered midwives for homebirths would jeopardise the health of thousands of women and babies …
Homebirth Australia … is angry about a suite of bills … which propose … midwives must be insured to join the register but private insurers no longer provide cover for homebirthing and the federal government has also refused to subsidise professional indemnity for homebirth claims.
… draft laws effectively stop registered midwives legally attending home births.
“The national registration requirement is absolutely appropriate,” … “What is not appropriate has been the (Health Minister Nicola Roxon’s) response to say … `I will enable the funding of one-to-one midwifery care through Medicare for midwives who care for women birthing in the hospital system, but I won’t do it for homebirth’.”
…. “What she has done is made a giant step forward and been too scared to take the next step because of medical objection, because of the power of the medical lobby.”
The Australian Medical Association has previously spoken out against homebirthing, warning it is significantly more dangerous than giving birth in a hospital.
But Ms Caines said Labor’s legislation would endanger pregnant women who were unable to access registered midwives for their homebirths.
… “Where there is a low-risk pregnancy it is safe to have a home birth and women and families need to be able to have that choice,”
… The Greens will seek to amend the bills to ensure homebirthing with registered midwives remains an option for women in Australia.
… The government was examining ways of allowing home births to continue without imposing prohibitive costs on midwives …
If you’re planning to have a home birth, it’s best to start trying for a baby now so that you can birth before June 30, 2010. The future of home birth is uncertain after that date.
Melissa Maimann, Essential Birth Consulting 0400 418 448