Homebirth Australia today slammed the exclusion of homebirth from insurance schemes for midwives announced by the Health Minister Nicola Roxon in parliament today. "Effectively two pieces of legislation will outlaw midwives providing homebirth care from July 2010" said Justine Caines, mother of seven and secretary of Homebirth Australia.
"Women will continue to homebirth, but will now do so without the assistance of a qualified professional." said Ms Caines. "The result will be an increase in deaths for mothers and babies, this is certain. It is absolutely impossible to understand the government's position on this, other than to say that they have bowed to political pressure from medical lobby groups."
The National Maternity Service Review received submissions from hundreds of women wanting access to homebirth services. The vast majority of homebirth services are provided by private practice midwives. Removing this option is likely to end access for most women to homebirth.
Ms Caines called on all ALP members to declare their view on a woman's right to self determination of her health care needs. "If the ALP is so hell bent on preventing women from accessing homebirth as an option I ask all ALP members to publically state their position on this. It appears that having a Health Minister who is a woman, a recent mother, and a lawyer understanding consumers' rights, is not proving to be an advantage for women. Removing women's rights to the point where we are back providing care in dark alleys or in back rooms is ridiculous in 2009."
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