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----- Original Message -----
From: maureen germein
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 11:25 PM
Subject: letter to pollies Hello Roz- here is a copy of the letter we have
sent to state and federal pollies (even Senator Harradine, and Bob Brown).
hope it helps!
take care
maureen, robert and clarrie
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18 July 2001 Dear, We are writing as the proud parents of a healthy three year old, who was born at home in the professional care of an independent midwife. We are concerned that our next child will not be able to be born at home due to the decision of an insurance company not to renew professional indemnity insurance to independently practicing midwives. A home birth was an opportunity for us to take full responsibility for this special time in our lives. Through lengthy, informal visits to our home during the pregnancy, often lasting several hours, we were provided with a lot of detailed information on which to base our choices surrounding the birth of the baby, and the after care of our child. These visits fostered a special relationship with our midwife, who came to know us as people, and was therefore able to ensure that our transition from “couple” to “family” was a positive, special and safe event. Our experience is consistent with World Health Organisation Guidelines, who state that midwives are the preferred birth carers for pregnant women. Our safe birth experience is consistent with research that shows that home birth is as safe as hospital for low risk deliveries. This is documented in the Senate Committee report, Rocking the Cradle, 1999. We are angered that the decision by an insurance company means that we are being denied CHOICE to have our next baby at home with an independent midwife present. We are concerned that this decision by an insurance company will lead to a decline across the country in the standard of care for pregnant women and their birth partners. We are frightened that our governments and politicians will just stand by and allow an insurance company to dictate women’s choices about birthing. Something must be done URGENTLY to address this issue. State and/or Federal Governments must ensure that independent midwives have access to professional indemnity insurance. The SA State Government recently provided such a scheme to doctors in rural and regional areas of South Australia. It could also be addressed by introducing a national, no fault liability scheme. Further, the rights of women to choice in their birthing care should be ENSHRINED IN LEGISLATION, so that all women, including women in country areas have access to midwifery care in their homes, hospital and the community. A home birth, and midwifery care ensured that we had the best possible start as parents. Our son’s grandparents were present during the birth, providing them with an opportunity to be fully involved with his life from the beginning. Our neighbours were able to provide support to us during this time, ensuring that our son was born into a positive community spirit. We do not believe that a hospital birth would have provided us with this feeling of connection to our own parents, our community, and ourselves. While this issue is a very personal one for us, it is a wider issue for the entire community. It is an issue about HUMAN RIGHTS. It is an issue about CONSUMER CHOICE. It is well known that dissatisfaction with the medical emphasis of hospital births and with discontinuity of care are major factors driving consumer demand for alternative, more women centred approaches to pregnancy and birth. The right to chose a home birth must be protected. By having a safe, low risk birth at home, we free up valuable hospital resources for women who genuinely need these services. For us to use these services unnecessarily is a drain on already overstretched hospital funding. Professional, autonomous midwives provide an alternative to the medical model of birth, and ensure that there is accountability in the system for all women, by acting as a point of comparison to male dominated obstetrics. This is an urgent issue- we look forward to your prompt response, and the opportunity to have our next child born in its family home. Yours Sincerely, Maureen Germein and Robert Houghton 15 Devonshire Road HAWTHORNDENE SA 5051 [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
