Brisbane couriermail article on botched births?

thought I would post this article I read the article and we are currently looking into our own birth and up and coming birth so this was a good read!!!!

New mums in crisis

March 24, 2007 11:00pm


A CRISIS in Queensland's maternity service is leaving one in three mothers traumatised and endangering the health of their babies.

A Sunday Mail investigation has revealed shocking lapses in care in overcrowded maternity units, with mothers going into labour in corridors and others pressured into having unnecessary caesarean deliveries.

Poor post-natal care has led to some women needing emergency hysterectomies after developing avoidable infections.

A new study by Jenny Gamble, state president of the Australian College of Midwives, has found 30 per cent of mums experience symptoms of psychological stress after giving birth in Queensland hospitals.

Lobby group the Maternity Coalition said overcrowding was now a problem statewide following the closure of 38 maternity units.

In rural Queensland, a different study shows five women a week give birth before reaching a hospital with specialised maternity care.

The State Government was warned of the appalling state of maternity services two years ago, but midwives say it has so far failed to help frontline staff or their patients.

A Sunshine Coast couple have launched a court action against Queensland Health, alleging their son was born with cerebral palsy as a result of an emergency caesarean.

On Thursday, an inquest was told that a young Brisbane mother suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage after another caesarean delivery.

Maternity Coalition president Joanne Smethurst said Australia's standard of care was almost "Third World".

"The health of mothers and babies is suffering every day, but the Government has wasted two years doing nothing," she said, adding that hospitals were encouraging women to be induced and undergo caesareans because of a shortage of midwives and beds.

Queensland has a caesarean rate of 32 per cent. The World Health Organisation recommends 10-15 per cent.

Dr Gamble, who also runs the midwifery program at Griffith University, wants a community midwife scheme introduced:

"We know what the problems are, we just need the Government to get on with it."

Since 1995, Queensland Health has received 20 reports on the state of its maternity services.

The most recent, presented by the department's maternity services steering committee, said action was needed to improve care for women in rural areas and called for the introduction of post-birth care for all.

In the past two years, the steering committee has spent almost $1 million on paperwork to prepare for the creation of yet another committee on the crisis.

Steering committee chairwoman Cherrell Hirst said State Cabinet still had to approve the second committee and would make a decision by the end of the month.

She said it could be four years before any improvements in care were seen.

"Stage one was setting up the interim committee, ahead of establishing the second committee," she said.

Opposition health spokesman John-Paul Langbroek said the situation was outrageous.

"We get review after taskforce after investigation, and meanwhile services suffer," he said.

A spokeswoman for Queensland Health said "moves are under way" for change. The Gold Coast Health Service District Birthing Centre, opened in May 2006, offers an "alternative model of care for birthing", but nothing has been rolled out state-wide.


Lindie- Not too sure what everyone else thinks but being a c/s mum myself these are huge statistics!!!!!!!!!

Those rates are alarming - this just makes me more nervous about birthing here in the public system :doh: But when you've got no choice, right?

I think there are ways to have a successful empowering birth, but you have to bring your own decisions & support with you in the public system. My first child was an emergency c/s and my second a VBAC. I had to fight for the VBAC very hard in the public system, but I know with a private OB I wouldn't have even had the option. I had to make sure I had birth support and make decisions well before labour.

Christy is exactly right, no matter what state you are in, if you want a certain birth, you have to educate yourself and surround yourself with choices and support to hold your choices and beliefs for you. If you leave it up to chance or at the mercy of the system you can easily, but sadly become a statistic.

After having 2 babies in a QLD regional hospital, that article does not surprise me at all. What i saw was a staff morale problem more than lack of services, I have still never seen such neglect and dangerous practises in my life in a hospital. I was one of the hundreds who complained about the maternity services at the time, it was truly disgusting.

Ash - during my pregnancy with DD I had to go to the Brissie public hospital to stay for a bit and it was brilliant compared to the one i birthed in twice. The midwives there were awesome and you didn't get yelled at for using the buzzer ;)

LMAO Tara, I'm not going to a regional hospital or a big one in the city, so I guess it's somewhere in the middle?
And yes I agree with Kelly and Christy also.

Personally I think the way that article has been written is a bit sensationalistic. Not arguing with the statistics or the fact that maternity services could absolutely be improved in Queensland (as in other states also), but I do think it is stretch to say our hospital maternity services are "almost third world".

Lack of staff, funding and the closing of wards are big concerns though.

Well it is almost third world if 5 women a week aren't able to get to a hospital! There have been so many rural closures some women travel 2 hours or more to go to hospital, some having to leave families behind. I suppose you would have to also ask the 30% of women suffering psychological stress from birthing in the hospitals too - if you told them their suffering wasn't as bad as being in third world I am sure some would argue ;) Without being in their shoes and experiencing what they do it's hard to know.

I probably should have thought about it more before I posted that - what I meant was, in terms of the actual facilities and medical technology available at hospitals, I don't think they are "almost third world". But of course that is where there are hospitals available with enough staff to run them, which sadly is increasingly not the case, especially in rural and remote areas.

In terms of personal experience, I do understand that those mothers who have suffered psychological stress absolutely have a reason to feel that their treatment was almost third world. It is not right that so many women should suffer in this way after giving birth.

I do still think though that the way the article was written was to sensationalise the issue - note how they quote the maternity coalition president as saying our hospital standard of care is almost "Third World" without giving the full quote or the context in which it was said. Maybe I am nitpicking.

A journalist sensationalise?! No way ;)

The situation is pretty bad though, I have heard some heartbreaking stories of mothers in regional areas having to leave town a few weeks before their baby is born to be near a hospital, and not able to afford to bring their family with them.

Midwifery-led care is a great option because many women will have low-risk pregnancies and will be fine, then in the case of high risk, you would of course transfer. But like you see above, people are starting to sue for problems with caesareans, one of the midwives I spoke to said only last week, a mother arrested on the table while being closed up from her caesarean. Not to scare anyone, but to show that it certainly isn't the be all and end all to have high tech. High tech and high standards of care are two completely different things, but are often mixed up. Getting women to trust the process is a tricky feat in the current climate. We are blessed to have high tech for life saving emergencies, but thankfully, it isn't always required. WHO says 10-15% as the article states.