Babies 'at risk' without doctors
Author: By JENNY DENNIS
Date: 13/07/2005
Words: 326
Source: ILL
Publication: Illawarra Mercury
Section: News
Page: 2
ILLAWARRA doctors fear babies will die if midwife-only births are
allowed at Shellharbour Hospital.
Clinicians fear their concerns could be ignored in the face of political pressure to have the Shellharbour birthing unit reopened.
A recommendation to introduce midwife-only births at Shellharbour has followed a trial of the practice at Wollongong Hospital which was found to work well.
A review of the trial has found the midwife-only model could be viable and safe for low-risk births at Shellharbour Hospital. This is despite safety concerns raised by doctors.
"I don't know of one doctor in the Illawarra who supports the move," an Illawarra doctor told the Mercury. He said the plan to reopen Shellharbour's birthing unit would place doctors at the hospital in an ethical dilemma.
"Ethical doctors can't refuse to help in an emergency and they're relying on the fact that people will come running if there's a problem."
Reopening the unit would place more stress on the hospital's emergency department, which since January 1 has been operating without specialist emergency physicians.
Illawarra Patient Safety Committee chair Paul Kovac said safety was about the ability to respond to rare, life-threatening situations that child birth inevitably threw up.
"Women undergoing midwife-only labour need to understand they are taking certain risks by choosing to have their babies at a facility where there's a lesser (medical) cover," Dr Kovac said. "It's not just having a doctor on site, you need to have the right doctor."
A spokesman for NSW Health Minister Morris Iemma said the safety of mothers and babies was paramount in consideration of maternity services and a midwifery-led model would only proceed at Shellharbour if the steering committee believed it could do so safely.
A Wollongong ambulance officer said the report's recommendation that an ambulance be available for immediate transfers between Shellharbour and Wollongong was unrealistic. His best estimate of transfer time between the two hospitals was one hour.
Hi All, As you know, a Midwifery Group Practice has been operating for the last 12 months at Wollongong Hospital. This was a "pilot" which was meant to be moved to Shellharbour Hospital after a twelve month trial. Above is an article published in today's edition of the Illawarra Mercury. The article is titled "Babies 'at risk' Without Doctors" It would be great if the Mercury received a few letters pointing out the safety (superiority?) of midwifery-led care for low-risk women! > Letters to the editor can be sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Rachele
ill_mercury.gif
Description: GIF image
