Hi Abby and all,
I think that a lot of the drama that women trying to register unassisted
births happens because we put up with it. I have been involved with
advocating for women trying to register their babies born at home without
medical assistance for years. As they were being given such a huge run
around I decided to take personal action and contacted the manager of the
registrations section, at that time Bronwyn Hanson, who subsequently opened
a folder specifically for these women and advised me to get these families
to contact her directly.
This was a great system for a few years as families got their births
processed quickly and without fuss. They had to supply two stat decs (if
possible) from people who had witnessed the birth and that was it.
Unfortunately recently when I directed a woman to take this course of action
it was discovered that Bronwyn Hanson had left that posistion and once again
whoever had taken her place seemed to be at a loss as to how best get
documentation of the existence of a live baby to this mother. They crazily
got her to get letters from neighbours, as many stat decs as possible and
photographs of her pregnant and with baby.... why I ask when a stat dec is a
legal document?
I recommend that women trying to register their babies avoid call centre
staff and ask to be put through to the manager immediately. There has been a
precedent set as to how they should be treated and the process they should
be asked to follow to register their baby. They should ask for no more than
2 stat decs to verify the birth and if they do ask for more it can be
clearly stated that many women who have had unassisted births over the last
few years have only had to supply the above.
The number of different stories (and unfortunately abusive comments)
families were getting when they called the standard number and spoke to call
centre staff would have made a great comedy skit about bureaucracy. I think
a lot of people have trouble wrapping their head around homebirth let alone
birthing without medical assistance (be that with or without "lay"
assistance) by choice. Call centre staff would make comments such as: "So
you gave birth by accident at home, are you OK, do you want me to call an
ambulance?". And of course they find it most difficult to understand why
women wouldn't want to take their perfectly bonny healthy babies to a doctor
just to get a form signed.
I understand as I didn't see a doctor for either of my last two pregnancies
and birthed at home without medical assistance. I objected to paying a
doctor to sign a form just to make it easier for the bureacracy to neatly
process us.
A side note: I am interested in the origins of the term "freebirth" when
describing an "unassisted" birth. To me a "freebirth" is a birth where the
birthing woman truly has autonomy, is well informed and has made her choices
according to where she is at in her life. I think it is the rare few that
would truly choose to ever birth without any trained assistance whether it
be medical or lay and I don't think it is wise to make this out as an
enlightened choice (remember I have had two wonderful births like this
myself so I'm not speaking from lack of love for this option).
Maybe I have it wrong and the "free' relates to no monetary cost!
warm regards to all who provide choice for women in a world where it is
sadly becoming nonexistent
Penny
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <ozmidwifery@acegraphics.com.au>
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 11:55 PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] new centrelink forms
Hi Sue,
After my beautiful girls birth we called Births Deaths and Marriages and
Centrelink and they told us to go to our local hospital. Well, one
hospital gave my husband the hardest time about it and refused to give him
a form unless I came in. Now this hospital is known for calling DOCS on
anyone they think has done the wrong thing ie freebirthing. He then went
to our other local hospital and they were soooooooo lovely. They gave him
all kinds of info on the services they offer, "just in case we wanted to
take advantage of it" and also gave him the forms and everything we
needed. Though, the only problem was, it did have the hospital sticker on
the back. So, in the end I went to Centrelink and got forms myself, we
then had a hell of a time getting our baby registered and then finally we
got to hand in our Centrelink forms. Basically, Centrelink won't take the
forms unsigned without a Birth Certificate.
If you want any info on how to get a Birth Certificate for a babe in NSW
let me know. We had to provide all kinds of info and it took months. They
have no protocol so it really depends on the person you are speaking to.
Love Abby
Sue Cookson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi,
Anyone out there have any idea how women/couples who choose to birth
unattended or with non-registered attendants can get there babies
centrelink/medicare form from?
Used to be a matter of getting baby sighted by a GP and the appropriate
forms signed. The new forms are all registered to the care provider and
most GPs don't have them.
Any thoughts?
Sue
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