Midwife Lisa Barrett tells inquest mums will go it alone if homebirths get regulated

[zrieka]

There is a distinct difference about regulation and limiting women's ability to homebirth. Regulation is about setting standards and holding practitioners accountable for their failings. It is also about having insurance to compensate clients when things go wrong.

To say that any regulation will hinder midwives hints that the midwives might not be up to standard.

I for one am scared that there might be substandard practitioners out there, operating outside a supportive medical system. That is a much scarier thought than limiting home birth.

[onthefly]

The thing is, this isn't about shoddy practitioners or regulations, this is about one group of professionals trying to put another group out of business, leaving women with fewer choices in the end. This all seems to be based, not on bad practices, but the perception that trained obstetricians know better than mothers what is good for them and their babies.

If everyone would just get on with teh job at hand - actually trying to help mothers birth - then we could concentrate on making sure that all mothers would be cared for in safety and with respect.

If we press ahead with rules that don't work - IMs can't get insurance, very few OBs will form collaborative agreements - then women wanting to home birth (some of whom feel far too unsafe in hospital because of prior experience) will do so in potentially unsafe conditions. What's more, we will have taken a step backwards in regards to the care offered to mothers. As women, as mothers, we are capable of making decisions for ourselves and our babies. That fundamental right should always be respected. Very often, it isn't at the moment.

[zrieka]

The thing is, this isn't about shoddy practitioners or regulations,

This media coverage of hb has arisen because of the coronial inquest into several homebirth deaths attended by the same midwife/birth advocate. At some point, you have to call the practitioner's expertise into question.

Of course women deserve more choice! They also deserve safety and standards to regulate the professionals in whom they place their trust (and money)

[Trillian]

This media coverage of hb has arisen because of the coronial inquest into several homebirth deaths attended by the same midwife/birth advocate. At some point, you have to call the practitioner's expertise into question.

Of course women deserve more choice! They also deserve safety and standards to regulate the professionals in whom they place their trust (and money)

Sounds like you drank the kool-aide Lisa Barrett is being hunted down and villified for things that were beyond her control. There was nothing at all wrong with her work, her skills or her expertise. These babies would have died in a hospital setting but because they were born at home, the Coroner had made it his mission to hold her for account. I'd like to ask you, what of the Doctors who also attend stillbirths in a hospital setting? Do we ever see them put through what Lisa Barrett is currently being put through? No, we don't. I wonder why that is?

[Novella]

Im in two mids about this.

They actually had to go to court to change the defenition of still birth to allow for the coronial inquest to occur as prior to the change babies born not breathing are considered still born and the coroner had no power to investigate, so I do believe there is a witch hunt at the moment that has Lisa Barrett in its sights.

However I think Lisa may have unwittingly pushed the home birth movement backwards when she has taken on some higher risk births. A footling breech is not a low riske birth nor is a twin home birth that has >24hrs between delivery of twin A and twin B (if you check her website out she had these births on her site as well as some great empowering home births). I understand she states these women were informed of the risks/benefits

I absolutely beliee that women should have the right to home birth and I also believe that like any helath practitioner and any health serviceIM should have a standard of work and a framework to work within. I believe that the standard needs to be discussed between the collage of midwifery, midwives and based upon the most current evidence based practice.

I also agree that women will chose to free birth without multiple birthing options