29th June 2011
Jillian Skinner, MP
Level 31 Governor Macquarie Tower
1 Farrer Place
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Ryde Midwifery Group Practice at Ryde Hospital
Dear Mrs Skinner,
I am writing to you to tell you about the amazing and beautiful experience I had birthing my third child at Ryde Hospital. I was cared for by a truly exceptional midwife, Martin Griffiths, as part of the group midwifery model of care. I want you to understand how valuable and important group midwifery at Ryde Hospital is for women, babies and our community.
I had my first two children at the SAN at Wahroonga with a private obstetrician. I chose this model of care because I have private health insurance so I thought, well that’s just what you do. My first two birthing experiences were good, but there are many aspects of my care under the private model that I now believe were much less than ideal and much more expensive to me personally and to the taxpayers of NSW and Australia.
By less than ideal I mean I that I had care providers, treatments/procedures and interventions that hampered my experience and recovery. Under the private model of care I built a relationship with my obstetrician throughout my pregnancy, but during labour and after birth it was the midwives at the hospital that provided almost all of my care, people I had never met before and had no opportunity to get-to-know during such a busy and somewhat stressful time. The treatments and interventions I received include: internal examinations, “stretch and sweep”, direction into a birthing position I did not want to be in, coached pushing, episiotomy, immediate cord clamping, managed third stage (syntocinon injection), stitches and poorly managed 4th stage pain relief. These are all minor interventions but in my opinion they were unnecessary and detrimental to my experience, recovery and birth and mothering journey.
By expensive I mean at every obstetrician visit (of which there were many) it was clear that every single Medicare fee/rebate that could be accessed was. I believe that much of this was unnecessary and a waste of taxpayers money, not to mention a waste of my money as there would always be an additional “gap” cost to me. After giving birth I stayed in hospital for four days at huge cost again, to me personally, my family (husband taking time off work) and to taxpayers (subsidising private health insurance). I could easily have gone home much earlier but there is no out-of-hospital care under the private model. Once you leave hospital you are virtually abandoned and left to fend for yourself. If I wasn’t being over-serviced, I was being under-serviced.
In contrast, the birth of my third child with Martin Griffiths under the group midwifery model of care at Ryde Hospital is incomparable, just so much better. Martin favoured a completely hands-off, wait-and-see approach and it has worked so well for me. Throughout my pregnancy and especially during my labour and birth his presence was perfect, he allowed my body to do what it was meant to do, but he was there with me, supporting me the whole time. I felt comfortable, in control and free. This excellent care and support didn’t end when I left hospital, the in-home visits by Martin in the days and weeks after birth were invaluable.
I know I have experienced the very best care. All of the careful, evidence based decisions we made together about my treatment options have meant that my recovery has been brilliant. I was able to go home the day I gave birth, breastfeeding has come easily and naturally and there has been no disruption at all to our family life, I went to the shops and did the kindy pick-up the next day! My older two children (2 years and 4 years) have happily welcomed their new little brother and my husband has been able to confidently and quickly return to work.
I regret that I chose the private model of care for my first two births. It’s not that my experience in the private system was bad, it was good, but for something as special and important as welcoming a child into the world, why would you settle for good when you can have awesome! I am so thankful that I educated myself and finally found the best birth care model for me, better late than never. It is such a shame that women like me see the private obstetric model as the default option. There are women who really need the services of obstetricians during their pregnancies and for the birth of their children. Our health resources are precious, why waste them giving sub-optimal experiences to people who don’t need them?
I passionately believe in birth rights and birth choices and that midwife-led, woman-centred care should be the gold standard for maternity care in Australia. I feel frustrated and angry that important decisions about access to birth services are seemingly not based on evidence and I am left wondering about the protection vested interests. I feel so lucky that I have been able to access the group midwifery service at Ryde Hospital and I hope so much that it will be able to offer such a valuable and important service to women and families long into the future.
Thank you for taking the time to read about my experience. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like further information.
Yours sincerely,
Rachel _______
cc: Martin Griffiths, Midwife, Ryde Hospital
Nicola Roxon MP, Minister for Health and Ageing
John Alexander MP, Federal – Bennelong
Victor Dominello MP, State – Ryde
Debra Thoms, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, NSW Dept. of Health
Rosemary Bryant, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Dept. of Health and Ageing
Dr Michael Nicholl, Director Women's and Children's Health, Royal North Shore Hospital
Dr. Colin Gunter, GP, Carlingford – Epping Surgery
Dr Steve Hambleton, Australian Medical Association
Don’t go private *just* because you have private health insurance
I am so thankful that I finally woke up, made some great decisions about who would care for me and that I did have a truly beautiful birth in the end.
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