six-month investigation by the ABC<\/a> in 2024 revealed 10 catastrophic incidents linked to freebirths. Two birth workers were charged with manslaughter after one infant death in northern NSW.<\/p>\nThe South Australian laws were introduced as a result of coronial findings into three unrelated baby deaths.<\/p>\n
College of Midwives president Dr Zoe Bradfield said her organisation respected women\u2019s right to autonomy in birth, but \u201charmonising national legislation as proposed will ensure all women can have confidence in the transparency, safety and accountability of care during birth, in the same way, all across Australia\u201d.<\/p>\n
She emphasised that freebirth was not the same as homebirth, which is supported by many maternity hospitals and for which demand exceeds capacity.<\/p>\n
Hospital homebirth programs are available only for women deemed to be at low risk, and two skilled and registered health professionals are required to attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have some of the most skilled, capable clinicians in the world and an international standard of [midwifery] education in Australia; for that reason, homebirth is safe in Australia,\u201d Bradfield said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we are seeing a rise in birth being attended by people without qualifications and skills, and perhaps moving into that space where they\u2019re offering advice or clinical care even, which is not within their remit, and we\u2019ve seen some unfortunate outcomes of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Demand for homebirth had doubled since the pandemic, but still accounted for only a small proportion of Australian births \u2013 up to 2 per cent, she said.<\/p>\n
Many women do not have access to hospital-supported programs because of their location, and this has been named as one reason some women turn to freebirth \u2013 at which no registered clinician attends.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need to work to expand the model of care that women want access to. There is clear demand [for homebirth]. Although it is still small, it is a doubling in a relatively short period,\u201d Bradfield said. \u201cWomen are wanting and demanding continuity of care from a known midwife.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Victorian government spokesperson said it respected that mothers had differing birth preferences, however, \u201cwithout having a registered midwife or trained clinician present during birth, the lives of a mother and baby can be put at serious risk\u201d.<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
The government urged people considering freebirth to use the state\u2019s hospital homebirth services.<\/p>\n
The federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing responded to the RANZCOG\/ACM letter by saying the government supported women to be actively involved in decisions regarding their care, but freebirthing was not recommended.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen who wish to birth at home should consult with a health professional. Doulas are not recognised health professionals and are not regulated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA),\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile doulas are not registered, they are legally bound to comply with the National Code of Conduct for Health Care Workers. This code establishes mandatory minimum standards of conduct and practice to safeguard the public.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In South Australia, birth workers who perform restricted birthing practices can be fined up to $30,000 or jailed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-259632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}