Australian Private Midwives Association: too posh to push?

Saturday, January 21, 2012

too posh to push?

Apparently not, at least in sunny Queensland, where the statewide rate of caesarean births has soared to 34 percent of all births, and where private hospitals have the highest rate of caesarean section deliveries (47.9 percent) in Australia. [for the press release from University of Queensland Centre for Mothers and Babies, click here.]

Who is really responsible for the continuing increase in rates of caesarean births in this country?

Are too many obstetricians greedy, seeing a surgical procedure as better $ return for their time?
Are too many obstetricians fearful of litigation, and thereby placing unrealistic risk-management boundaries on women in their care?
Are too many public and private hospital maternity units over-crowded, leading to pressure on staff to get babies delivered without what is seen as delay, but what may simply be giving the time that's needed?
Are too many midwives so de-skilled that they are unable to provide basic midwifery care, working in harmony with natural processes in labour?
Are too many women so trusting of professional care, so ignorant of their own natural ability in birth, that they allow interferences and interruptions in their pregnancies and labours, leading to the cascade of interventions?

If you said 'yes' to all, go to the top of the class.

There's lots of information on the www about caesareans. For a summary of pros and cons that may assist women in making informed decisions about births after caesarean, you can download a .pdf file Maternity Coalition INFOSHEET.

and, btw
What do you think can be done to reduce the rates of unnecessary caesarean births?

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WHO ARE WE?

The Australian Private Midwives Association represents midwives in private practice. The association is focused on the safety of women, the ability of women to access quality midwifery care across Australia and the partnerships between women and midwives. APMA supports women’s choice in maternity options within a framework of quality and safety and believes in women being able to access midwives in all settings. APMA unites all midwives seeking to provide continuity of care for women.

APMA strives to provide midwives in private practice with information relevant to their practice and advocacy in the political process.

Enquiries:
Joy Johnston joy@aitex.com.au
Marie Heath NSW and National 0407 266004
Clare Lane (Vic) 0416 130219

APMA POSITION STATEMENT on PLANNED HOME BIRTHS WITH A MIDWIFE

1. We support home birth with a midwife in attendance for women who have uncomplicated labours. 2. We support and adopt the International Confederation of Midwives’ (ICM) Definition of the Midwife (2011), which is foundational to all midwifery practice, including homebirth. 3. We support the right of every woman to access a midwife as the primary maternity caregiver who works in partnership with the woman throughout the episode of care, who is able to be the responsible professional in attendance at the birth either at home or hospital, and who is able to make appropriate referral and transfer of care when required. 4. We support the right of a midwife to practise privately in a fee-for-service or funded relationship with the client, or to take up employment. 5. We support only those regulatory restrictions that are able to pass the ‘public interest’ test: “How does this promote health and wellbeing in the mother and baby?” 6. We support an expectation of equity, including equal pay for equal work throughout a midwife’s scope of practice. Midwives who provide primary maternity care are entitled to the same public funding, the same opportunity to charge a fee-for-service, the same access to hospital referral, and publicly supported indemnity insurance, as medical practitioners providing the same maternity services. 7. We support processes by which midwives are able to gain experience and mentoring in order to commence and demonstrate competence in homebirth practice. 8. We support seamless and reliable processes by which midwives are able to make hospital bookings for women planning homebirth, and arrange transfer to the hospital in a timely way when needed.