When will they give this up. Nobody is ever concerned about how long it
takes in the country to find a doctor and drag him away from what he is
doing and organise theatre or whatever
Andrea Quanchi
On 14/07/2005, at 6:06 PM, Denise Hynd wrote:
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
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