The Age, 28th December, 2009
AS THE father of three home-born children, now healthy adults, I take issue with Dr Pieter Mourik’s slights against home-birthing (Letters, 26/12). His letter has a distinct whiff of vested interest. My children were born between 25 and 30 years ago in the country, outside Canberra.The support provided by the Canberra Home Birth Group was excellent. Expectant couples were initially counselled by a midwife and doctor, and those unsuited for health or psychological reasons for home birth were advised to have a conventional birth.
A close relationship was built with the midwife and doctor, as well as members of the home birth group. The births themselves went smoothly, in familiar surroundings, and not in the cold sterility of a hospital operating room.
As Dr Mourik should know, most births are normal, and do not require the intervention of an obstetrician. Unfortunately, too many members of the medical industry treat pregnancy as a pathological condition, requiring excessive servicing. One wonders why.
Mike Puleston, Brunswick
Nigel Stewart Australia, Commentary hospital, medical system, midwifery
The Age, 26th December 2009
Obstetricians left holding the baby
I AM not sure the majority of Victorian taxpayers will agree that $400,000 of their money is allocated for midwife-led home births is “fantastic” or “thrilling” (The Age, 23/12); the majority would consider this a misuse of public money.
This pilot is pandering to a vocal minority of midwives who want to do home births and the two or three women per thousand who are foolish enough to consider a home birth without immediate medical support.
For the Government to force this pilot on to a regional health service (as yet undecided) would be insensitive, particularly when no obstetrician I know in regional Victoria supports home birth.
Home birth in Australia is known to have increased risks for both the mother and her baby, particularly when delays in ambulance transport may be the difference between success and disaster. The obstetrician will always be the person who has to receive these disasters, not the Government.
Dr Pieter Mourik, Wodonga
Nigel Stewart Australia, Commentary home birth, medical system, midwifery
