Women may 'go it alone' on home births Ireland

[Posted: Fri 15/10/2010 by Niall Hunter, Editor - www.irishhealth.com]

A campaign group has warned that some women may opt for home births without professional care as a result of problems with indemnity insurance for qualified home-birth midwives.

The Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services-Ireland (AIMS) says proposed new midwifery legislation will in effect make it illegal for a home birth midwife to provide antenatal and birth care if the pregnant woman's circumstances do not meet criteria set in a current memorandum of understanding which midwives have to sign with the HSE.

Krysia Lynch of AIMS told irishhealth.com said the memorandum, which will be used in the legislation, outlines the criteria for State indemnity insurance cover for midwives in home births but these criteria were too restrictive.

She claims they are based on a misinterpretation by the HSE of evidence-based guidelines for home births and claims the HSE is attempting to restrict home birth and midwife-led services.

AIMS says the restrictive criteria could lead to midwives becoming uninsured in the middle of a home birth should the mother's clinical circumstances change.

Midwives attending women having home births could face could face fines or imprisonment or both if they are found in breach of the new legislation, which is expected to be passed by the Oireachtas before the end of the year, AIMS says.

It adds that a growing number of women who do not want to attend maternity hospitals are saying that if professional midwife-led home birth services are not available to them, they will "go it alone" with their home birth without professional care providers.

Ms Lynch said this type of "underground home birth movement" has already taken root in other countries where home birth services are restricted.

AIMS says it understands a group of lay midwives without medical training are now offering their services to women who have difficulty in finding professionally-registered midwives.

The organisation is calling for revisions to be made to the Nurses and Midwives Bill in order to change the professional indemnity criteria for home births.

It is organising a petition calling for a changes in the proposed legislation.

Further details on this issue, and a petition to sign, are available here

I have signed the petition - signer #873:

Ireland's Home Birth Services: MOU and Nurses and Midwives Bill 2010.

The Australian Government's current effort to reform maternity services is also likely to have this negative effect of directing women with known 'risks' into the underground home birth movement.  Midwives are faced with real and imagined restrictions when providing care for women who have had previous caesareans, or whose pregnancies continue beyond Term, or who are over weight, or ...  These women would likely benefit greatly from a known midwife primary carer.