CANBERRA is reconsidering its controversial exclusion of home births from a new midwifery indemnity scheme, before a Senate challenge to the draft legislation.
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon revealed yesterday she was looking at whether the government could accommodate home births in the $25 million indemnity scheme.
"I recognise that a very small proportion of women would like to have home births and (I) am currently investigating if there is some way that we can provide this as an option without making the proposed midwife indemnity insurance unaffordable," she said.
The scheme was welcomed by midwives, when announced in the May budget, as a precursor to next year's expansion of their powers to prescribe subsidised medicines, order publicly funded tests and claim Medicare rebates.
Private midwives had gone without insurance cover since the indemnity crisis at the start of the decade, putting their ability to practise at risk under a new national registration scheme for health professionals that also takes effect next year.
But support for the budget decision fractured when the draft bills revealed home births would not be covered under the new indemnity arrangements.
Not only would home birth midwives continue to lack cover, they would also for the first time be stripped of their professional registration from next July for failure to secure adequate insurance. Unregistered midwives who continue to practice beyond that date could face a $30,000 fine.
Greens senator Rachel Siewert announced yesterday the party would demand changes to the midwife indemnity bill and/or draft national registration legislation, saying the government had made a mess of its attempts to improve maternity services.
"If their planned approach is about providing better choice and safer deliveries, it's going exactly the other way," she said.
"Parents who have already had home births have said to me, 'we will never go back to a clinical situation so we will free birth'. That will put them into a much more dangerous position than before."
Opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton said the Coalition would "be open to negotiating with the Greens".
"I have real concerns that the government is essentially putting in place penalties for midwives who assist in a home birth and essentially they're going to drive the practice of home births underground."
2 comments:
Fantastic support in the Senate by Rachel today, also Justine Caines, Hannah Dahlen and others. I hope that all our leaders will clearly see the vested interest in some lobby groups and that they do not have the right to dictate to women what is right for us, or dare presume that they are more interested in the well-being and safety of our precious babies than we are. Great blog, Jane! Love and strength to you. Independent midwives are national treasures and the custodians of natural birth skills.
Dear Julie - today was a very good day. I think we all felt heard. I will wait to see what the senate review has to say on the 17th of August.
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