Right: a sucessful home birth, attended by family. Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Further implications
The debate over the relative safety of home births is unlikely to be readily resolved. There are disputes about terminology, sample size and other considerations which potentially cloud the interpretation of data making it very difficult for the relatively uninformed to judge the safety of home births.
However, home births would definitely be less dangerous if strict guidelines were followed, discouraging problematic candidates from taking this option.
Excluding pregnant women likely to have difficult births from home birthing requires better education rather than legislation. All Australian states have variations of the Victorian Medical Treatment Act which require the informed consent of the patient before a medical procedure can be administered. Therefore, seeking to mandate that certain types of pregnancy require a hospital delivery would be extremely difficult.
It would be better if, as part of all women's antenatal care, they were made aware of what pregnancies might be safely delivered at home and which would be better delivered in a clinical setting. Information delivered clearly and without prejudice is the best way to ensure that a woman considering a home birth knows whether this is a good option for her and her child.
Another area of concern is access to a midwife. All international and Australian studies indicate that having a qualified midwife at a home birth dramatically improves the likelihood of a positive outcome for mother and child. Australia has introduced a national registration procedure for all practicing midwives. This appears a sensible measure, designed to guarantee the quality of help supplied by midwives. However, to be registered midwives have to be insured and most insurance companies will not ensure midwives practising outside a hospital setting. The federal government has similarly refused to indemnify midwives delivering babies in their mothers' homes. The federal government has also decided that mothers cannot claim a Medicare rebate for the services of a midwife at a home birth.
This means that mothers who wish to deliver at home are now more likely to do so without a midwife. This greatly increases the risk to both them and their unborn children.
The Government may actually be attempting to discourage women from taking up the home birth option because of safety concerns; however, in making it very difficult for home birthing parents to secure the services of a midwife the unintended consequence will be that those who do go ahead with a home birth will be at a greater risk than they were formerly.