March 2009 - There is a very real threat that independent Midwifery services will be illegal as of July 2010
The attached sheet "Women- Push 09"
has been prepared by the maternity coalition to guide people who want
to help protect future access to the services of independent midwives
in response to the recent Birthing Services Review.
The report is very clear that it does not support reforms which
increase or fund womens access to homebirth. The Report proposes
Commonwealth support for Medicare and indemnity insurance for midwives,
but only working in non-homebirth practice. Midwives working outside
these restrictions would not be able to legally practice, due to
impending reforms:
P53:
“For privately practising midwives, it is not currently a requirement
in most jurisdictions to have professional indemnity cover in place
before registration is granted. However, this situation is expected to
change under the proposed new National Registration and Accreditation
Scheme.”
The consequence of all this is that homebirth
practice by private midwives (most homebirth care) would not be
insured, and would be illegal under national registration laws,
scheduled to take effect in July 2010.
And the vidoe made this week by Homebirth Australia's Jo Hunter is on the Homebirth website.
Also if you go to the HBA website www.homebirthaustralia.org Scroll down slightly and click on the link where it says save private midwifery video.
So get writing folks. How effective will that be?.... well certainly better than doing nothing at all.
Our federal government needs to take this on at this point and this is
why there needs to be numerous small voices in the ear of the local
Federal MP. That then gets sent on to the health minister but it is
noticeable when it comes from multiple petitioners via letters from the
MP's. Write a letter to the Health minister and go see your MP as well.
Support the profession of midwifery and the right of women to choose.
July 2008 - New PCOS Support Group in Melbourne
We are Positively Curious of Other Solutions... are you?
We have been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and are
creating an autonomous support group with the aim to explore our bodies
and empower our beings!
We have come to believe that there is more to this condition than meets
the eye of the medical model and are focused on alternative and
holistic approaches to PCOS with an interest in the wider
socio-cultural reasons for hormonal disturbances in women today.
We want to build a strong network of mutual support through fortnightly
meet ups around Melbourne and envisage a whole range of different group
activities including menstrual health workshops, womens sweats, womens
circles, Chi Gong, art therapy and talks from alternative therapy
practitioners.
We have a conscious desire to develop our physical, emotional and
spiritual health with regards to our PCOS and beyond! Join us to meet
other women with similar ideas, to share stories, have fun and feel
empowered!!
Please send us an email at polly_cysters@hotmail.com!
We look forward to hearing from you!
Warning: Using a mobile phone while pregnant can seriously damage your baby
Women who use mobile phones when pregnant are more likely to give birth
to children with behavioural problems, according to authoritative
research. A giant study, which surveyed more than 13,000 children,
found that using the handsets just two or three times a day was enough
to raise the risk of their babies developing hyperactivity and
difficulties with conduct, emotions and relationships by the time they
reached school age. And it adds that the likelihood is even greater if
the children themselves used the phones before the age of seven. The
results ... follow warnings against both pregnant women and children
using mobiles by the official Russian radiation watchdog body, which
believes that the peril they pose "is not much lower than the risk to
children's health from tobacco or alcohol". The research – at the
universities of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Aarhus, Denmark – is
to be published in the July issue of the journal Epidemiology. They found that
mothers who did use the handsets were 54 per cent more likely to have
children with behavioural problems and that the likelihood increased
with the amount of potential exposure to the radiation. And
when the children also later used the phones they were, overall, 80 per
cent more likely to suffer from difficulties with behaviour. They were
25 per cent more at risk from emotional problems, 34 per cent more
likely to suffer from difficulties relating to their peers, 35 per cent
more likely to be hyperactive, and 49 per cent more prone to problems
with conduct.
To
get homebirth publicly funded in Australia politicians must actually
receive letters for your intentions to be enacted into law. Click here to find out how you can help.
PRIVATE HEALTH INSURERS IN AUSTRALIA
COVERING MIDWIFERY AND HOMEBIRTH @ 30 August 2007
Compiled for Birth Matters (SA), Homebirth Network SA, and the Maternity Coalition
Here
is the latest information we have collected since August 2005 via
mothers and midwives in Australian birth and midwifery networks about
private insurance companies who have reimbursed for the services of an
independent/private midwife covering homebirth or other midwifery
services. Do send advice if you find more recent information, or can
add information about other insurers, to matcoalitionsa@yahoo.com.audownload
report.
April 13, 2007
Caesarean risks by Dr Sarah Buckley
Caesarean surgery: is it simply another way of being born?
Does a caesarean give babies the safest possible entree to the world,
conveniently protecting the mother�s pelvic floor at the same
time?
Or
is a caesarean a substantial deviation from normality that introduces
potential risks for mother and baby? Could our current caesarean
epidemic even be a reproductive time-bomb, increasing risks as
caesarean mothers proceed through subsequent pregnancies and births? Read more...
April 7, 2007
Women will not be allowed to insist on caesarean deliveries in NSW public hospitals without a medical reason
under a new health department policy.
The
policy was devised to tackle increasing safety concerns about the high
surgical birthrate. "Maternal request on its own is not an indication
for elective caesarean section," says a circular distributed to
maternity units, doctors and nurse groups this week. "Specific reasons
for the request must be explored, discussed and recorded." Read more...
April, 2007
What
Women Want (Australia) aims to be Australia's first female political
party dedicated to advancing issues affecting Australian women
Dear
Friends and Supporters of Birth Reform. Over the past 7 years I have
given my heart and soul to reforming Australia's maternity system, with
particular emphasis on women being able to choose the care of a known
midwife (funded)... I have thought long and hard about forming a
political party. Nervously I announce that I plan to register a
political party called What Women Want to contest senate seats and key
marginal seats across Australia. Read More...
March 10, 2007
Dr Sarah Buckley responds to "sleep training" article in the Sydney Morning Herald
New
motherhood can be exceptionally tiring but sleep training may not be
biologically wise (March 3). Prolonged stress and crying raises
cortisol levels, which may be neurotoxic to the baby's developing brain
(SMH 3/3/07 p 5). A smart alternative to 'baby whispering' is 'baby
snuggling'.
Shared sleep between mother and baby gives the biological benefit of
'mutual regulation', including synchronised sleep cycles and increased
levels of hormones of love (oxytocin) and pleasure (beta-endorphin).
Snuggling with my four babies has given me more rest, less fatigue and
relaxed, contented babies. And-one needs to get out of bed.
October, 2006
Pregnancy And Lactation May Affect Maternal Behaviour And Coping Skills
These new findings indicate that the maternal brain is a dynamic and
changing structure, and suggest that increased activity of the
prolactin receptor system in females who have given birth and breast
fed their offspring may help mothers improve their abilities to both
nurture children and manage stress. This possibility warrants further
investigation as to how reproductive experience alters the mother's
physiology and behaviour. Read More...
08/31/06 PARIS -- Women who opt for an elective caesarean have a
threefold higher risk of mortality than those who choose vaginal
delivery, according to investigators here. Read More...
C-Section Rate at All-Time High in U.S.
By Kathleen Doheny
The Caesarean section delivery rate stands at a record high in the
United States, resisting efforts by federal health officials to reduce
the rate to 15 percent by the year 2010. Read More...
We are Positively Curious of Other Solutions... are you?
