Senate

[Carol Thorogood]

Hi all   Thanks so much for your info. Joy I feel a bit better about 'my' hearing tomorrow. At least I know where it is all coming from. I do appreciate your willingness to share. We'll be much more efficient this way. I can't get the transcripts off the web site though!  Sally, I steer clear from using the term 'early discharge' cause in the past it meant, informed choice, pre-birth preparation, and only those women who were healthy, coping and with good family support went home in the first 72 hours. They were (at least in WA in the early days) visited by a midwife every day for a week.   Now it is everyone out, like it or not, and very little support, preparation etc. So the meaning of early discharge has changed from a service designed to enhance maternity care to a cost-saving measure and bugger the outcomes.  Anyway, I don't think I'm saying anything new. But I use the phrase domiciliary care cause (in WA) virtually all publicly insured women are discharged at or within 72 hours and c/s at about four -five days. It's the norm now.    I've got anecdotal evidence that  the latter is leading to reduced breast feeding rates ie they give up. Has anyone got any firm evidence that this is so?   Carol