This is my submission, but what is the actual email adresss I can send it to or will bellybelly forward them all.

Dear Mrs Bryant,

I am currently trying to conceive my first child and as this has been taking quite a bit of time I have spent these months researching my birth options in this country.

I am lucky enough to live in a city that has a midwife led birth centre however I beleive that availability to book in there is quite difficult due to over subscription. I do not wish to birth in a hospital if I can avoid it due to what I see as over medicalisation of birth leading to unecessary interventions. A view I feel is supported by our ceasarian rate being above the World Health Organisation recommended level. I feel there is a lack of education about the benefits of a natural birth and that there are not enough resources being provided to encourage this act. I do beleive in having the hospital system for high risk and emergencies during birth however I strongly feel that a midwife led industry is the way we should be heading.

If independant midwives were afforded medicare backing and access to affordable insurance this would lead the way for the beginning of privately run birthing centres as well as government funded birth centres where ever the industry saw a need. These would employ fully trained midwives that could perhaps have an association with an obstetric practice that would then see and treat at a hospital any patient that showed complications during their birth.

By employing midwives who are trained in natural ways to reduce pain during childbirth and who also advocate techniques to allow a more relaxed and focussed birth process the need for drugs and interventions should lessen with time and we will see a lower ceasarian rate.

Obstetricians are surgeons by trade, they operate, that's what they do. Midwives assist the birth of babies. They also play an important role in pre-natal and ante-natal care as well as being able to train as lactation consultants. If we support Midwife led services such as birth centres and also by supporting midwife assisted homebirth we free up the obstetricians to be more available in their role.

We are slowly losing the confidence in our bodies to birth our babies and if we don't look at changing that soon it will be lost for good. At the moment in Australia there does not appear to be a lot of information regarding natural birthing practises at the begining of a pregnancy journey as most doctors will refer you to an Obstetrician and the Obstetricians aren't really going to refer you to a birthing centre or midwife based care because they would be doing themselves out of a job, so essentially unless you know someone who has bucked the trend and opted for a non medicalised delivery, chances are you have little or no information as to these choices. I would like to see the Government provide a number of Midwife led birth centres and word of mouth about the experience a mother had there would change the face of how we birth our children in this country. Thank you for your time and a chance to voice my choices.

Yours Sincerely