The Sister of the Mother of all Rallies

[Fishchick]

Please copy & paste the following message everywhere you can! We have the blessings of Homebirth Australia & Maternity Coalition to run The Sister of the Mother of all Rallies here in Adelaide. Other states are extremely welcome & encouraged to take all of this information & run local rallies too.



From July next year, homebirth with a registered independent midwife will be illegal, unless people like us make it known we believe in a woman's right to autonomy over her reproductive health. People like us need to make it clear to the federal government that women should have the right to choose where and with whom they give birth. People like us need to ask the government to think seriously about making the registration of health practitioners dependant on being able to secure insurance.

On Monday 7 September The Mother of All Rallies will be held at Parliament House Canberra, at 11:30am. The rally is going to be huge! But what can we do from Adelaide?

Home ‎(Adelaide Homebirth Rally)‎

Join us on the steps of Parliament House at 11am for The Sister of The Mother Of All Rallies. Let's get as many people out as possible, not just those who have and/or plan to homebirth, but also those who care about the right to choose. Let's make it clear the people of Adelaide care about this.

The rally is for the partners and children of the women who have gone to Canberra, so they can show their solidarity and have their whole family counted. It's for all birthing women who want to stand up and say they want choice available for their antenatal, labour, birth and postnatal care. It's for all citizens who believe in the right of the individual to take responsibility for their own health and well-being.

Add your name to this facebook event
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?ei...9237114&ref=nf
or see the website for more info.

Homebirth is not a crime!

Pass it on!

[~karen~]

can you please give me references where it is written that it will be illegal
i completely agree that it shouldn't be - but from what i've seen and heard roxon say - it's not about making something illegal - it's about doing a deal to get midwives insurance and medicare rebates and that homebirth would be added at a later date but the insurance providers weren't happy to include them this time - now i know i shouldn't believe everything i hear a politician say but i'd really like the reference to the law being passed that will make homebirth illegal so i can make an informed decision on whether to participate in things like this that you have just posted
yours sincerely
karen

[Fishchick]

Read the links, Karen. It's all there.

[Fishchick]

ETA a briefer summary for you from here http://www.homebirthaustralia.org/

Homebirth - Soon to be illegal?

Since 2001 midwives have been unable to purchase an indemnity insurance policy. This was due to global factors with the collapse of the insurance market after September 11 and a landmark obstetric birth injury case proving a payout of $11 million in 2002. Guild insurance was providing indemnity at the time and they made a straightforward economic decision. With just under 200 privately practising midwives paying approximately $800 per annum, there was simply not a large enough pool to fund a payout of the magnitude mentioned above. Medical Practitioners indemnity premiums were subsidised by the Howard Government and continue with over $900 million of tax-payers money has been spent to date. Homebirth midwives continue to be denied professional parity. Women choosing homebirth are treated as de-facto health consumers and are the only health consumers denied the protection of practitioner insurance. If as planned homebirth midwives are unable to practice, women seeking homebirth care will be unable to access a registered midwife.
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has prepared draft legislation to establish a National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for all Health Professionals by July 2010. This body will require evidence of medical or professional indemnity insurance to secure registration. This presents a very serious threat to women who want to access homebirth with a midwife. To date the Government have made it clear that they do not intend to provide indemnity insurance to private practice homebirth midwives. As a result these midwives will be unable to register, hence making it illegal for them to attend homebirths. Homebirth Australia sees this as a breach of basic human rights and possibly a contravention of Convention of the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

From here Save birth choices - homepage

Early in 2009 the Government released the findings of the review on maternity services in Australia (The Maternity Services Review). Even though 53% of the submissions to the review discussed homebirthing, publicly funded homebirth has not been considered in the recommendations nor has assisting privately employed Midwives regain Medical Indemnity Insurance. In fact, the outcome of the “collaborative care approach” that has been proposed is to make it illegal for privately practicing midwives to attend homebirths which is a big step backwards for women/baby-centred care.


Homebirth in Australia accounts for a very small percentage of births (0.22%) and has been deemed to be a trivial amount however it is a number that is growing yearly as more and more families see a safe, family centred alternative to the hospital environment.


The review recommended that in July 2010 all medical professionals in birth would come under a banner organisation to bring in a collaborative approach to maternity care. The aim is to attract women back to a hospital for birth rather than give women what we are asking for – access to affordable homebirths. What the review has failed to identify is why women choose to birth at home.


Under this new structure every medical professional in maternity will be required to have Medical Indemnity Insurance to legally work. Midwives are the only health professional that do not have access to Medical Indemnity Insurancenor are the government willing to look at reinstating it claiming the numbers of women this affects is trivial.


Should a privately employed midwife continue working uninsured as of July next year, they would face fines and imprisonment.


The demand for publicly funded homebirth systems and the evidence of homebirth safety is such that NT, NSW, SA and WA have all implemented state run (public hospital run) homebirth systems in select areas. This service caters for very few women but the need has been heard at state level.


Publicly funded homebirth is not a new concept in other developed countries. Countries such as the UK and NZ have been running these services successfully for several years.


The full report of the Maternity Services Review can be found here Maternity Services Review.

And the reason why independent midwives can't get insurance...

Just prior to the demise of large insurance companies following September 11 in 2001, Guild Insurance who insured private practicing midwives decided the number of midwives in practice was too small to warrant insuring.


This decision was made as the end of the nine year Obstetric legal case of Calandre Simpson came to a close. The Supreme Court ruled that Calandre Simpson’s Cerebal Palsy was probably caused by an overdose of Syntocinon (the IV drug used in inductions) prior to a failed forceps delivery and a resulting caesarean section. This was a birth in a hospital performed under the management of an Obstetrician.


Calandre Simpson won a payout of $11M after appeal which was double the next largest payout and resulted in the collapse of United Medical Protection (UMP), Australia’s largest medical indemnity insurer and heralded the start of the “medical indemnity crisis”.

Medical Indemnity Insurance premiums rose to a level that resulted in many Drs considering to leaving their professions. The Government intervened to stabilise the crisis by subsidising premiums paid by Doctors in higher risk services such as Obstetrics. The government however did not extend this funding to cover midwives.


Today Midwives are still unable to get Medical Indemnity Insurance because the majority of Midwives are employed in the services of health care institutions (public or private) and are therefore covered by their employers insurance. Though the Government admits that there is no adequate and reliable data available to accurately assess the risk profile for privately practicing midwives and despite global research that says homebirth is a safe option for low risk pregnancies, it deems the risk of insuring midwives to be too high and the number of midwives in practice is too small to warrant investigation.


Privately practicing midwives are therefore left to support their women with no insurance backing which has forced many to leave the profession. Those that do practice do so at a risk.


To date, no law suites have been brought about because of the action of a midwife in private practice unlike that of Calandre Simpson’s case which changed the face of not only medical indemnity insurance but the legal system to prevent such a consumer win being able to be repeated.


The only way the proposal from the Maternity Services Review will keep midwives in private practice is if either a) they can obtain insurance or b) the government steps in to insure them. Neither option is being considered.

What this all means...

The outcomes of the Maternity Services Review mean a lot of things to a lot of people.

• No woman in Australia will have the choice to birth outside of a hospital and receive professional maternity care. It is the right of every woman to have access to maternity care in birth regardless of birth space.

• It may not be your choice to birth at home but your sisters, friends and daughters deserve to be able to make that decision for themselves.

• The government has stated they want to create a 'collaborative care model' under this review yet are making homebirth illegal without making changes within the maternity system which doesn't leave much incentive for change.

• People wanting accessible homebirth were vocal in this review yet totally ignored in the outcome.

• The government makes no plans to reinstate Medical Indemnity Insurance for midwives regardless of the overwhelming evidence showing that they deserve their place as birth professionals.

• Women will still birth at home but without professional assistance which may see the death rate of mothers and babies climb.

• Births that happen at home would be less likely to be transfered at the first signs of distress for fear of reprecussion.

• Rural women of Australia will have no choice but to relocate or drive several hours to obtain professional midwifery care for their labours rather than having a local midwife come to them.

• As many of our midwives have been practicing in private practice for well over a decade and are skilled in 'normal birth', we stand the chance of loosing these skills altogether.

• We would be the only country in the developed world who makes homebirth illegal whilst countries such as the UK are setting targets to reach to increase homebirth numbers.

• Birth in hospital will incure higher intervention rates as more women are pushed through the system.

• Resources for the women that need the high intervention care may be less accessible due to the extra demand on hospitals to assign resources and staff for women that can, and would rather, safely birth at home.

Further reading...
Home Birth Australia |
Joyous Birth - The Australian Homebirth Network
EXTERMINATE | Homebirth: Midwife Mutiny in South Australia
Homebirth to become illegal in a year. — Hoyden About Town
midwivesVictoria: from the Health Minister

[~karen~]

thankyou but you completely misunderstand my question
i don't want links to pro homebirth sites and their (possibly correct) interpretation of what's been written elsewhere
i wanted a link to the actual legislation changes on the table

[~karen~]

"101. Conditions of registration (1) If a National Board decides to register a person in the health profession for which the Board is established, the registration is subject to the following conditions: (a) for a registered health practitioner other than a health practitioner who holds non-practising registration: (i) that the registered health practitioner must complete the continuing professional development program required by the National Board, and (ii) that the registered health practitioner must not practise the health profession unless professional indemnity insurance arrangements are in force in relation to the practitioner’s practice of the profession"

ok i found this - this is about how to maintain registration - i still haven't found references for outlawing or what the outcomes will be if midwives do attend homebirths i will continue to search - i thought you may be able to direct me straight to it

i am not against homebirth - all for when done safely - and completely for women's choice and more important being informed correctly - which is why i ask the question - not to cause you irritation

i will talk to the midwife at school (from nz where homebirth is very "normal") and see what she's been made aware of via the board etc

[Pandamum]

This info comes from the Govt's site ........."The National Health Workforce Taskforce"

National Registration and Accreditation Scheme: Australia's Health Workforce Online - working together for Australian health workforce reform

And the quotes come from the frequently asked questions section. Obviously it doesn't directly address the question of homebirth midwives BUT does clearly state it will be an offence to practise without registration.

Will the scheme ensure that health practitioners
have professional indemnity insurance?
All health practitioners will be required to have
professional indemnity insurance arrangements in place
as a condition of their continued practice. In the case of
employed practitioners this may include appropriate

indemnification by their employer.

Will a health practitioner who is not registered be
able to practise in a health profession regulated
under the national scheme?
No. Under the proposed National Law, it will be an
offence for persons who are not registered to call
themselves a ‘registered health practitioner’, to use any
of a list of restricted professional titles which might
indicate that they are registered or qualified to practise
in a health profession, or claim to be registered or
qualified to practise in a health profession that is
regulated under the national scheme. In addition, there
are certain activities or practices that will be restricted
only to persons registered in specified professions (see

below).

[~karen~]

thankyou

[Fishchick]

No worries Karen, no irritation caused here. Yes I misunderstood your question. More here:

This is the draft legislation and a guide to it. This stuff is really turgid and opaque so it's lucky to have the comments of others to offer some explanations about its possibilities. How it would all play out in real life is something we'll need legal advice on if it goes ahead.


GUIDE TO THE EXPOSURE DRAFT OF THE HEALTH PRACTITIONER REGULATION NATIONAL LAW 2009
http://www.nhwt.gov.au/documents/Nat...20Bill%20B.pdf


Health Practitioner Regulation National Law
http://www.nhwt.gov.au/documents/National%20Registration%20and%20Accreditation/Exposure%20draft%20of%20Health%20Practitioner%20Re gulation%20National%20Law%202009%20(Bill%20B).pdf


Some people are positing that this may be used to fine homebirthing families who ask a midwife to attend them or to fine GPs who support midwives to attend women at home.

Quote:
Subdivision 6 General
148 Directing or inciting unprofessional conduct or professional misconduct
(1) A person must not direct or incite a registered health practitioner to do
anything, in the course of the practitioner’s practice of the health
profession, that amounts to unprofessional conduct or professional
misconduct.
Maximum penalty:
(a) in the case of an individual—$30,000, or
(b) in the case of a body corporate—$60,000.
These conditions of registration indicate that unlike the current situation where midwives without insurance are still attending women at home, this could become an offence. Penalty as yet unknown.


Quote:
101 Conditions of registration
(1) If a National Board decides to register a person in the health profession
for which the Board is established, the registration is subject to the
following conditions:
(a) for a registered health practitioner other than a health practitioner
who holds non-practising registration:
(i) that the registered health practitioner must complete the
continuing professional development program required by
the National Board, and
(ii) that the registered health practitioner must not practise the
health profession unless professional indemnity insurance
arrangements are in force in relation to the practitioner’s
practice of the profession,
Blog entries below

This is a blog entry with a letter from the College of Midwives.
http://www.homebirth.net.au/2009/06/...-midwives.html
EXTERMINATE | Homebirth: Midwife Mutiny in South Australia

http://midwivesvictoria.blogspot.com...-minister.html


Another great post from Hoydens that sums up all the issues beautifully. Anyone looking for a clear explanation to send around could use this.
http://viv.id.au/blog/20090625.5487/...gal-in-a-year/


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