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Good afternoon My name is Roz Donnellan � Fernandez.� I am a mother, and I vote. I have been a midwife and a birth activist for the past 8 years and I support women�s choice in childbirth. As a self employed community midwife during this time I have provided continuity of midwifery care for many women and their families in South Australian homes, hospitals and community settings during pregnancy, birth and postnatally. I choose to work in this way because research shows that continuity of midwifery care is THE GOLD STANDARD, THE BLUE RIBBON STANDARD of care for ALL BIRTHING WOMEN AND THEIR BABIES. The World Health Organization states the midwife to be the safest, most cost effective provider for the majority of pregnant women and their babies, including assessment of risk status, and irregardless of place of birth. One of the few ways in which families can currently access continuity of midwife led care & homebirth services is by contracting a self employed midwife. This occurs because successive governments in this state and this country have FAILED TO ACTION INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED BEST PRACTICE IN MATERNITY CARE & MIDWIFERY LED CARE, despite well over a decade of reports calling for major NATIONAL REFORM TO IMPLEMENT THESE SERVICES. Currently families pay from their own pockets to access midwifery led services. There is NO MEDICARE REBATE and private health insurance funds will not rebate midwives if professional indemnification arrangements are not in place. SO MUCH FOR CLOSING THE GAP ! Over the past 8 years, paying families in my solo midwifery practice have saved the public health system well in excess of $ 250, 000. This is a conservative estimate & far in excess of my own renumeration. Last month the insurance company that managed indemnification for midwives nationally withdrew the option for them to renew their policies with two weeks notice. A replacement insurer has not been found. This action has left self employed midwives and the families they serve in crisis. It is an action that further diminishes Australian families birth options for midwife continuity of care, and an action that threatens to extinguish access to SAFE HOMEBIRTH. This is a national problem, as well as a problem for each state and territory. Last year the SA Department of Human Services provided a RECOMMENDATION AND ENDORSEMENT FOR MY MIDWIFERY PRACTICE IN ANY SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC HOSPITAL subject to individual Board approvals. For midwives and nurses to access and utilize public hospital facilities it is a requirement that they carry appropriate professional indemnification. The Department and the Minister therefore have a SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY to ensure that professional indemnification arrangements are accessible to ALL MIDWIVES AND NURSES. One way to tackle this issue in SA would be to offer indemnity arrangements for self employed midwives through SGIC. Without appropriate arrangements there are two alternatives: * Self employed midwives cease their clinical practices, �� (as a criterion of accreditation with the National Australian College of Midwives Inc ��� is that they carry such cover), OR, * The midwives continue to practice without accreditation, and without professional �� indemnity insurance. This means they will not be able to birth women in hospital, �� access essential services, and more importantly, THAT FAMILIES WILL NOT BE �� RECOMPENSED IN THE EVENT OF AN ADVERSE OUTCOME. MATERNITY CARE IN AUSTRALIA IS IN CRISIS. The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare identified shortages of midwives in all Australian States & Territories in 1998. The crisis in premiums for obstetric care has also resulted in many obstetricians and GPs withdrawing their services in this area. In 1999 the Senate Community Affairs Committee produced a report entitled Rocking The Cradle, recommending changes in childbirth that have been IGNORED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS NOT A FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY! WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY THEN IS IT ? This issue is not about place of birth. If it was then on the evidence PI insurance should be lowest for those midwives attending women with uncomplicated pregnancy�s & births at home. This issue is not about safety, or evidence based practice. If it was then the majority of both obstetricians and midwives would be salaried through the public sector and midwifery led care would be the gold standard and the norm for quality maternity provision in this state and country. This issue is not about responsible governance, or equity and access to �health for all Australian families.� If it was, successive governments would have implemented a no fault liability scheme years ago. New Zealand has had one for 30 years ! This issue, like so many others that involve the health & well being of women & children is about MONEY AND POWER. It is about every women�s right in Australia to access & equity in choosing a midwife as her primary caregiver during pregnancy, birth, and after her baby is born. The insurance issue is providing a unique opportunity for the community to send LOUD, CLEAR messages to both the state and the federal governments about the need to action:
Indemnification for situations of adverse birth outcomes;
BIRTH MATTERS:� THIS ISSUE IS ABOUT BASIC� HUMAN RIGHTS. Thank you all for supporting this Rally. Thank you all for supporting increased birthing options for the families of South Australia. I KNOW THAT IF THESE ISSUES AREN�T ADDRESSED WE WILL BE SEEING A SERIES OF ROLLING RALLIES ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY TO LET OUR GOVERNMENTS KNOW THAT BIRTH MATTERS WOMEN & FAMILIES MATTER AND THEY VOTE. Thank you. 3/8/01� |
Birth Rally / Lobbying / National Women's Organisations
Roslyn Donnellan - Fernandez Tue, 07 Aug 2001 18:13:57 -0700
Title: Good afternoon
