But it wouldn't matter if there were enough midwives in a lot of cases because of the sheer distance some women are from a hospital, if something did happen to go wrong and further medical intervention was needed you are a minimum of 2hrs from a hospital that can do an emergency c/s. Like for my situation - I am 80km from the nearest hospital that has a functioning maternity unit. Due to that unit only being within a small district hospital women can only birth there at term (being 37-42wks - if you show up in labour earlier than that they ship you onto the next hospital up the line but naturally if there is no time for that then you birth there but there are no facilities available if baby is unwell at birth) and if an emergency c/s is needed it can be done (as are elective ones). BUT if the mother presents with twins, they cannot be birthed there - they have to go onto the next hospital, which is a larger base hospital and even then they can only handle births after 35wks gestation - anything earlier than that and you get a trip to Canberra.

Even when I had Alister last year, there was a huge dilemma when my Dr decided to leave town - he was the only anaethetist and one of two GP Obs in that town. Now if any women went there to birth and required and emergency c/s, she would have to be rushed to the Base hospital 1hr away in an ambulance - mothers and babies can die in an hr and if the situation was bad enough, that was a real possibility of happening.

I just don't think that those of you in metro areas fully appreciate the choices you do have. Even though some of you may find it hard to get into a birthing centre, you still have that choice, you have the choice of a homebirth, you have a choice of a public hospital birth, you have the choice of a private hospital birth. So compared to us, you are SPOILT for choice.