Putting babies and mothers ahead of home birth ideology
Australia’s peak group of obstetricians and gynaecologists today repeated its warning that home births – with or without a midwife – carry too much risk to babies and their mothers and the Government should resist calls to indemnify midwives outside of hospitals.
The President of the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (NASOG), Dr Hilary Joyce, congratulated the Government-majority Senate Committee investigating proposed legislation relating to the role of midwives, for putting the safety of babies ahead of protestations by a small but vocal minority of people.
“I would urge all politicians to look to the evidence and to speak to the doctors and the midwives who have to deal with some of the tragic consequences of home births,” Dr Joyce said today.
“Australia has one of the safest and highest quality maternity services in the world where specialist doctors work side by side with qualified midwives to ensure babies and their mothers have a safe and successful birth experience.”
Dr Joyce said she was determined to help drive change in the way public and private hospitals present their maternity services to encourage all expectant mothers to opt for a safe and positive outcome under the care of specialist doctors and midwives working together.
“There is irrefutable evidence that women and babies are significantly safer in hospitals because of the immediate access to specialist care. Thankfully, only 0.25% of Australian women risk their lives and that of their babies by choosing a home birth.”
Dr Joyce said the Minister for Health and Ageing was acting in the best interests of babies and their mothers by refusing to financially endorse the unsafe practice of delivering babies at home.
“There are things that can go wrong suddenly in a birth which, if not under specialist care or near medical assistance, can result in an avoidable death or permanent injury,” Dr Joyce explained.
Dr Joyce said rather than call for the Government to fund insurance for an unsafe practice, politicians and health professionals should ask for funding to be directed to educating women and their families about the risks of home births.”
Dr Joyce said her organisation would continue to work closely with the Federal Government to deliver the optimal collaborative model of obstetric care to all Australian women.
While I respect the views of the professionals above, I’d like to comment on this subject. Eight of our eleven grandchildren were born at home with fully qualified Midwives present. Each occasion was a joyous event and the babies perfectly happy and healthy and breastfeeding was fully established in a short time. There was no tearing or stitching necessary and the Mums made a good recovery. Granted, plenty of new mothers who have hospital births do the same. The decision to give birth at home was not taken lightly, The parents were fully informed, responsible and had full pre and post natal care. Of the other 3 births, 2 were in hospital and not good experiences.One mother had a serious haemorrhage which was not attended to soon enough because the hospital was very busy that night. The new mother then had a lot of problems for weeks afterwards. The second one was also not a good experience, with tearing, and stitching, and breastfeeding was delayed with severe engorgement and mastitis within a few days. This did not happen with the home births as the Mums were relaxed and able to feed without restriction.
The third birth in hospital was an emergency caesarean, because of an accident.
If I were to choose which I’d prefer, it would not be hard. My own parents and grandparents were born at home and while I acknowledge that there were many deaths in those days, we need to remember that these mothers did not have fully qualified midwives to attend them as do prospective mothers now. I am not radically pro home birth but I feel strongly that there should be a choice. If parents choose to inform themselves and act responsibly and have a qualified midwife present, it should be their choice. Thank you.