Letter to Nicola Roxon
The Hon Nicola Roxon MP
Minister for Health and Ageing
Australian Government
Dear Nicola,
It is with the greatest disappointment that I write to you today. This week, you have proposed legislation that fundamentally makes my position as a private practicing midwife redundant. This was clearly stated in your speech that there will be no Medicare benefits for homebirth services and no professional indemnity insurance for midwives, under the commonwealth contribution scheme Bill, 2009. As you know private practice midwives cannot access PII. Therefore, this will exclude midwives from providing high standard intrapartum homebirth care to women and will prevent me from gaining employment in this field, under this bill.
Nicola, you have made homebirth illegal under the wise and skilled counsel of midwives. This therefore reduces women?s choice of care provider and place of birth. This is not a celebratory day; you have made this into political propaganda and lies. You have also restricted a midwives right to practice to the full scope of practice in any setting to which her educational qualifications allow, as clearly stated by the World Health Organization and the International College of Midwives. Can the Australian maternity community accept government interference in defining the setting of practice of a midwife? Would the medical community accept such wanton interference in its professional boundaries? I think not, and nor will midwives.
For me, working with homebirthing women is my income and my career. I have worked all my professional life to be where I am today, to provide the highest possible care to childbearing women. No other health profession has been outlawed by the government preventing them professional earning in the private sector. Why is private midwifery practice being outlawed when high quality research very clearly states that homebirth with a midwife is just as safe? Why are we being forced into ?midwifery practitioners? status? I am already a midwifery practitioner, who has the highest levels of qualifications and maintains best practice standards clinically and educationally. This is very discriminatory as no other health professional is being singled out in this review. If this is being made legislation to midwives, why then aren?t obstetric surgeons being made to upgrade their qualifications into practitioner status? MIDWIVES ARE ALREADY THE SPECIALISTS IN MATERNITY CARE, we do not need further qualifications to practice safely. And Nicola, tell me, why are doctors able to attend birth at home with full Medicare rebates?
Why are you driving childbirth into a medically dominated model and high cost model of care? Hospitals do not make birth safer and private midwifery practitioners like me, DO NOT WANT TO BIRTH WITH WOMEN IN HOSPITALS, unless there is a very good clinical indication that would enhance the safety of the birthing outcome. Confining all women to this obstetric model of care is discriminatory and disrespects their customs, religious views, and common belief that birth is a normal, natural and a safe part of life.
A few years back Nicola, Medicare 16400 was introduced. This allowed UNSKILLED NON midwives to provide antenatal care and NON-obstetricians and NON GP/OB?s to oversee the care of these NON-skilled nurses. Queensland Health now endorses a two-day course for nurses to practice UNSKILLED midwifery. This is NOT good or best practice. You are sending us back to the dark ages and fast! It is the right of women to have high standard of maternity care and this is not the way to go about it. The maternity services review was overwhelmed by the responses by women wanting homebirthing services, in fact these responses accounted for most of the applications, AND YOU ARE IGNORING THEM!
The Australian government has come to the aid of obstetric surgeons to assist with PII. Where are you now to assist midwives, whom are the specialist in maternity care?? You cannot provide PII for antenatal and postnatal care and expect that women will want to birth in a hospital. Homebirthing women are birthing at home not only because of the broken maternity system, but because we choose too. Women will continue to birth at home with or without a midwife. Are you prepared to face the consequences of that?
Nicola, as a woman and as a mother I cannot understand that you are being so neglectful of a woman?s right to choose with whom and where she gives birth. Although this legislation lacks common sense and reasonable thought, I would have thought you would have more compassion towards your fellow sisters in birthing.
I am coming to Canberra on the 7th of September 2009 and will bring with me every woman and family that can make it to protest against both you and your legislation. Since this bill directly affects me, I demand that you give me the courtesy of your time to meet with my colleagues and I on that day. I would also expect that our Prime Minister to be present at that meeting.
I ask for your response in writing within 7 working days please.
We will not take this like an obstetric patient, flat on our backs!
Legalize homebirth midwifery!
Sincerely,
Rachael Austin
Midwife in Private Practice
Registered Nurse, Registered Midwife, Immunisation Practice Nurse, Advanced Childbirth Educator, Student Child and Family Nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant Nominee (July, 2009)
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