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Study into public obstetric
services
Thursday, 13 July 2006 PREGNANT women in Collie forced to have their babies in Bunbury due to a lack of obstetric services could soon be a thing of the past. The Legislative Council of Western Australia has selected a committee to inquire into public obstetric services in regional areas and are seeking concerns and opinions from Collie and other regional areas. In May this year, the Collie Mail reported a number of women in Collie had to have their babies in Bunbury due to a lack of qualified doctors. The main focus of the committee will be on the choices available to people having babies and community based midwifery. Wellington district manager Jaynie Kirkpatrick said there was only one doctor in Collie who was fully credited to deliver babies in low risk circumstances including caesarean births and the use of forceps and vacuum. Western Australian Rural Doctors Association president Doctor Rob Whitehead said the Federal and State Governments needed to work together to increase services in rural areas and the main concern should not be about saving funds but about encouraging more doctors to work in rural areas. "We need to train more young doctors in the advanced skills required in country areas including anaesthetics, delivering babies and some surgical procedures," he said. "Secondly there needs to be more incentives for doctors to continue their training and to deliver babies in rural areas. "Women living in country areas should have a right to deliver their babies in the town they live in. "A town like Collie that delivers about 100 babies a year needs more services and conditions to support the doctors already there." Legislative Committee chairperson MLC Helen Morton said public hearings would be held and encouraged people to express their views on this matter. "The committee recognises the special needs of people living in rural and remote communities and the issues they face when having a baby," she said. Copies of the committee's terms of reference are at www.parliament.wa.gov.au and submissions are to be received by 4pm on Friday, July 21. They can be sent to Committee Clerk Mark Warner a selected committees to Public Obstetric Services, Legislative Council, Parliament House, Perth. |
