Senate Community Affairs References Committee
INQUIRY INTO CHILDBIRTH PROCEDURES
The Senate has referred the following matter to the
Senate Community
Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by
30�December 1999.
Childbirth procedures, with particular reference to:
(a) the range and provision of antenatal care services
to ascertain whether
interventions can be minimised through the development
of best practice in
antenatal screening standards;
(b) the variation in childbirth practices between
different hospitals and
different states particularly with respect to the
level of interventions
such as caesarean birth, episiotomy and epidural
anaesthetics;
(c) the variation in such procedures between public
and private patients;
(d) any variations in clinical outcomes associated
with the variation in
intervention rates, including peri-natal and maternal
mortality and
morbidity indicators;
(e) the best practices for safe and effective births
being demonstrated in
particular locations and models of care and the
desirability of more
general application;
(f) early discharge programs, to ensure their
appropriateness;
(g) the adequacy of access, choice, models of care and
clinical outcomes
for rural and remote Australians, for Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander
women and for women of non-English speaking
backgrounds;
(h) whether best practice guidelines are desirable,
and, if so, how they
should be developed and implemented;
(i) the adequacy of information provided to expectant
mothers and their
families in relation to the choices for safe practice
available to them;
and
(j) the impact of the new Medicare rebate provided for
complex births,
including the use of the term �qualified and
unqualified neonates� for
funding purposes, and the impact that this has had on
improved patient care
and reduction of average gap payments.
Written submissions are invited and should be
addressed to:
The Secretary
Senate Community Affairs References Committee
Suite S1 59
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Closing date for the receipt of submissions is
6�August 1999.
For further details contact the Committee Secretary,
Phone:�(02)�6277�3515,
Fax:�(02)�6277�5829.
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Comments to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Last reviewed 30 June 1999
� Commonwealth of Australia
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