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Ahhh, god love him, John Svigos says that midwives can't
do caesareans...
Midwives deliver what mums need most
13nov04 EXPECTANT mothers are turning to midwives to deliver
their babies, driven by spiralling obstetric fees and dwindling birthing
services. At Mount Barker, only 400 of the 1600 pregnant women are using the district
hospital's maternity services while hundreds of women are waiting at Adelaide's
Women's and Children's Hospital for midwife services.
Co-head of the Midwifery Group Practice Anne Nixon said there were 200 women
on the waiting list for the unit, which offered continuity of care. Women are
cared for by a main midwife and a back-up so they will know the person who helps
deliver their baby.
The unit has 13 full-time equivalent midwives but is set to expand by another
six, doubling the unit's capacity to 1000 births over the next year.
That is still unlikely to meet demand, given the unit only takes in women
from a 20km radius around the hospital.
Ms Nixon said women often chose midwifery because private obstetrics could
increase the amount of medical intervention during birth.
Her colleague and co-unit director Roz Donnellan-Fernandez said the
continuity of care the unit provided led to impressive results when compared to
the hospital's other maternity services.
The unit's vaginal birthrate is 24 per cent higher and epidural rate 24 per
cent lower – a saving of up to $1500 a woman.
Adelaide obstetrician Dr John Svigos, who practices privately and at the
Women's and Children's, however, disagreed doctors "intervened"; they "assisted"
women to have children. He acknowledged, however, many women did prefer
midwives. He said midwives and doctors should always work together. The doctor
needed to be there as back-up.
"Midwives are not trained to do caesareans," Dr Svigos said. "I don't pretend
that we can give the same care as a midwife but, if there is a problem, I can
deal with it."
He pointed out many women were happy with hospital births, using "all the
technology they can lay their hands on".
Adelaide midwife of 12 years, Wendy Thornton, 44, lives in Hahndorf and
delivers between 30 and 40 babies a year.
She says in her experience, women were increasingly opting for midwives
because they don't want their birth to be over-medicalised. The high cost of
private obstetricians also was a problem for some.
"Obstetricians can charge a gap between $1200 and $2000 and it does effect
some people," Ms Thomas said. | ||||||||||||||
- [ozmidwifery] Midwifery article in The Advertiser 13/11/04 Tania Smallwood
