Midwives in charge of birth face jail /by SHERADYN HOLDERHEAD
14/11/2013
Published in The Adelaide Advertiser, page 15
SHERADYN HOLDERHEAD POLITICAL REPORTER UNREGISTERED midwives who take the lead in delivering babies can now be fined up to $30,000 or imprisoned for 12 months under new laws. The laws have been passed in the Upper House despite concerns that they will drive homebirthing further underground and that there was a lack of consultation. Government drafted the changes following the coronial inquest into the death of three newborns in South Australia. Controversial homebirthing advocate Lisa Barrett, who was at the centre of the inquest, had previously voluntarily deregistered as a midwife. The legislation covers the three stages of labour: the onset of contractions, the birth and the delivery of the placenta. It would also be illegal for nurses to lead these stages of a birth. No fine will be applied to the woman giving birth. Opposition health spokesman Rob Lucas said the Liberal Party supported the changes to protect mothers and babies. He said, in Parliament, the Australian College of Midwives had been “trying in vain” for some time to meet with the Health Minister. “According to the Australian College of Midwives…they continually get fobbed off to a public servant within the SA Department for Health in relation to the issue,” Mr Lucas said. Dignity For Disability’s Kelly Vincent said in parliament that she had consulted with the midwives’ SA chapter, which expressed grave concern about these laws. “As this Bill effectively is responding to one particular midwife and the resulting Coroner’s recommendation, I have real fear about what this Bill could do for other women and other midwives,” she said. “I fear it could drive homebirthing further underground. “This Bill could have been a great opportunity to recognise and define the role of midwives better.” Health Minister Jack Snelling has previously told parliament that the laws were not about denying a woman the choice of whether her baby was born at home or in a hospital. “It is about ensuring the safety of the woman and her baby by restricting the management of the three stages of labour and childbirth to a registered midwife or medical practitioner,” he said.
