a message from the Victorian Health Minister

The Minister for Health, Hon Daniel Andrews, informed a large group of midwives at the ANF (Vic Branch) conference today that midwives in private practice "need to have dialogue with us [the Department] about what would need to be included in pilot schemes [for hospital auspiced homebirth] for MIPPs to be part of them." There were three or four MIPPs in the gathering of over 150.

Minister Andrews was giving the opening address at the midwifery conference. Much of what he had to say was the same spin we had heard previously. He stressed the importance of his government's plan to introduce hospital-auspiced homebirth, and strongly reiterated his previous statements that he would not be providing any support for independent midwives to obtain indemnity insurance.

He stated that exemptions [from indemnity] would compromise the integrity of the scheme. He avoided the fact that the pilot homebirth programs are no more than a vague plan - not a reality. He said they will be up and running in 2010. [we will see!]

It was clear to me that the health minister is more interested in neat systems and schemes, putting people into boxes, than in respecting the individual woman's autonomy in primary care options, or the individual midwife's right to hang up a shingle and provide this very basic level of care in communities. This is socialist health policy on steroids - restrictions and bureaucratic systems taking precedence over the individual's right to choose who provides the most intimate care in bringing children into the world.

Andrews was dismissive of women who seek private midwifery care. He declared that homebirth is not an important option to most Victorian women. The numbers of women and midwives are too small to matter. His 'hospital in the home' style of homebirth will provide choice for "a lot of women" - tick the choice box! Too bad that most of the women in the State who will be seeking private midwifery services for births after i July next year will not be in the vacinity of the two hospital-auspiced homebirth programs. They will have to make the best choice from what's available to them. They can choose primary care from a private (specialist) obstetrician who may or may not be around if they labour spontaneously, and for that matter who has no skill in the midwife's terrain of physiological birth; or they can choose whatever fragmented model of maternity care is available via the local hospital and general practitioners, with a 'lucky dip' option of midwife allocation in the hospital when midwifery services are most needed. Or, of course, they can choose to DIY - stay at home without a midwife.

Women must stand strongly against the arrogance and rudeness of politicians who refuse to listen. Women who want a midwife to provide primary care - whether the birth is at home or hospital - actually want to avoid costly medicalisation of their births. They want the skill a known midwife brings to their birthing, enabling and protecting normal birth in most cases. Surely this is not too much to ask?