Plan would ban midwives from home birth help | Herald Sun
HOME births will become illegal if proposed new laws preventing women using midwives outside hospitals are passed.
The move is set to drive the practice underground, with expectant mothers placing themselves and their babies in danger.
There are fears women determined to have a home birth will "go it alone".
Under the draft Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (*.pdf), released last week, a midwife cannot be registered unless she has insurance.
But with insurance companies and the Government so far refusing to include home births in the indemnity scheme, midwives will face being de-registered if they attend a home birth.
Women's groups accuse the Federal Government of stripping the rights of women, forcing them into hospitals to give birth.
Australian College of Midwives executive officer Dr Barbara Vernon said the Government's intentions were obvious.
"Even though only less than half a per cent of women have home births, they should have the same rights as a woman who chooses to have a caesarean," she said. "Home births won't stop."
About 150 midwives conduct home births in Australia. Called independent or private midwives, most no longer work in a hospital and are uninsured.
But from July next year, they will no longer be able to call themselves midwives, even though they have the training. Only those insured and registered can use the term midwife, otherwise they face a $30,000 fine.
There are officially about 700 home births a year, but advocates claim the number could be as high as 2100. In Victoria, home births have almost doubled in the past decade, with nearly 600 registered with the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages last year.
Out of 72,921 babies registered last year, 560 were born at home, an increase of 230 from 2003.
Clifton Hill's Chloe and Daniel Lee say they made the decision to have daughter Milla at home because they wanted the comfort of familiar surroundings.
Ms Lee, 28, said the 20-hour-labour was different to a free birth, which is done at home without medical professionals, because the two midwives had an action plan if anything went wrong.
"It was the best thing I've ever done, probably. It was the best start for my baby," Ms Lee said.
