Well, hell has frozen over.
Just when I thought that the fight for homebirth in Victoria was stuck at the corner of 56th and Never Gonna Happen, Health Minister Daniel Andrews just announced that the State Government had allocated $400,000 for midwife-led home births through Casey Hospital in Berwick and Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne's west. A regional health service will also participate, but the Government has yet to decide which one.
For women who have relatively uncomplicated pregnancies, this is fantastic news and as long as the trial works over the next year, the project will be expanded throughout the public health system. While undeniably this is no good for women who may want to have a homebirth following previous caesareans (VBACs) or who are considered to be 'high risk' (e.g. obesity, 'older' mums), the fact that the State Government has actually listened to the enormous amount of feedback provided by homebirthing mums and midwives is astounding and shows real promise for a health system that can provide high quality care for women who don't want to birth in hospital.
Yay!
Showing posts with label Victoria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victoria. Show all posts
Fertility police
As if the entire process to undergo IVF wasn't hard enough already, according to new legislation in Victoria, women seeking IVF will have to undergo CRIMINAL CHECKS in order to receive treatment. On top of the already long process of medical examinations and screening women have to undergo to receive treatment, the new bill would 'would deny people access to treatment if a conviction for sexual, serious violent offence had been recorded or if the person had a child protection order made against them.'
I thought it was particularly horrible when lesbians were being denied IVF without medical documentation of infertility. Now, all Australian women are going to be subject to what amounts to a criminal background check when they are already feeling pretty vulnerable. What is really astounding is that Australians with a criminal record are procreating willy nilly and no one seems to care because they can do it 'naturally'.
The Victorian police have no business or right to interfere with Australian wombs.
Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24562002-2862,00.html
I thought it was particularly horrible when lesbians were being denied IVF without medical documentation of infertility. Now, all Australian women are going to be subject to what amounts to a criminal background check when they are already feeling pretty vulnerable. What is really astounding is that Australians with a criminal record are procreating willy nilly and no one seems to care because they can do it 'naturally'.
The Victorian police have no business or right to interfere with Australian wombs.
Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24562002-2862,00.html
One to one midwifery changing Australian pregnancy
Just as the British government is admitting their maternity system is crumbling as thousands of midwives flee to greener pastures (e.g. Australia!) for better pay and working conditions, it seems Australia is finally doing good by their midwives and pregnant women in one of the largest trials of one-to-one midwifery care in Victoria.
It seems midwives have finally gotten the message across: when women are looked after by one midwife from the start to end of pregnancy and beyond, birth outcomes are better and the caesarean rate goes down and women are supported better postnatally. Midwives have a more manageable workload with more midwives on staff, women feel more secure having a familiar face when they give birth and there is less of a strain on the medicare system as less women are interfacing with obstetricians unless absolutely necessary. In the Victorian trial, 1,000 women are paired up with one midwife and hopefully the system of having midwives on call will be implemented more widely in Australia as it seems to work quite well in Europe and New Zealand. Now, if only the American government could be persuaded to think about the welfare of its pregnant women maybe the atrocious birth outcomes in the US would be better with a midwifery system as opposed to the heavy emphasis placed on obstetrics.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/onetoone-midwifery-aims-to-cut-complications/2008/01/28/1201369037407.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3261305.ece
It seems midwives have finally gotten the message across: when women are looked after by one midwife from the start to end of pregnancy and beyond, birth outcomes are better and the caesarean rate goes down and women are supported better postnatally. Midwives have a more manageable workload with more midwives on staff, women feel more secure having a familiar face when they give birth and there is less of a strain on the medicare system as less women are interfacing with obstetricians unless absolutely necessary. In the Victorian trial, 1,000 women are paired up with one midwife and hopefully the system of having midwives on call will be implemented more widely in Australia as it seems to work quite well in Europe and New Zealand. Now, if only the American government could be persuaded to think about the welfare of its pregnant women maybe the atrocious birth outcomes in the US would be better with a midwifery system as opposed to the heavy emphasis placed on obstetrics.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/onetoone-midwifery-aims-to-cut-complications/2008/01/28/1201369037407.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3261305.ece
Lesbians deserve to be mothers
VICTORIA is to make surrogacy available to infertile couples and ease restrictions on access to fertility treatment for lesbians and single women.
Looks like the shift in Australian government is making way for sweeping changes in state government as well. Lesbians will no longer have to be declared 'infertile' and drive across state borders in order to access IVF. Questions still remain as to whether gay couples will be able to adopt children but this is a huge step in Victorian health policy and a clear admission that gay women deserve to be mothers too.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/state-overhauls-baby-laws/2007/12/14/1197568264930.html
Looks like the shift in Australian government is making way for sweeping changes in state government as well. Lesbians will no longer have to be declared 'infertile' and drive across state borders in order to access IVF. Questions still remain as to whether gay couples will be able to adopt children but this is a huge step in Victorian health policy and a clear admission that gay women deserve to be mothers too.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/state-overhauls-baby-laws/2007/12/14/1197568264930.html
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