Women who have lost children during childbirth or have had severely disabled babies will petition Parliament today for an independent review of the maternity sector.The group, called The Good Fight, was established because of safety concerns.
Its petition calls for the establishment of a database that records all outcomes for babies, such as near misses and disabilities, not just deaths.
The petition also calls for an independent review of midwife training and supervision.
Click through for the whole thing.
As someone who had a negative midwife experience I actually have a high level of confidence in the midwifery system and would go that route again (just with a different midwife).
5 comments:
TV3 had an interview this morning...
http://www.3news.co.nz/Petition-to-improve-maternity-care-in-New-Zealand/tabid/572/articleID/109782/cat/739/Default.aspx
Along with the groups site...
http://thegoodfight.co.nz/Welcome.html
I don't know much about, or have any experience of, maternity care, nor do I know anything about the group (though the boxing gloves rather disturbed me), but I really hope it's not another group to co-opt the experiences of everyone who has had a particular experience, rather like our friends in the sensible sentencing trust.
That's what worries me too Anna C. Is there evidence that the experiences of these families were directly caused by the maternity services? I'd hate to see another group calling for a massive overhaul if there's not.
I find the image of boxing gloves very disturbing. This does not feel like a woman-friendly site to me. However, as I am not in NZ and haven't lived there for ten years I won't pass judgement on their concerns.
Does seem as though this may be another beat-up from the in-fighting going on between midwives and Ob/gyn's for territory control - dead babies, as an effect of poor management of a healthy labour, are always good for stirring that pot.
My children were born when an LMC [Lead maternity Carer] was easier to obtain, and not quite so fraught with one-way choices; some obstetricians will not attend if they have not handled all care leading up to the birth, as part of the College of Obstricians actions against the current legal standing of midwives.
It's an old patriarchal battle, which I'm sad to say many female Ob/gyn's who double as local GP's got into; many of them renounced their Ob/gyn practising registration, which is another reason why we are so short of midwife vs Ob/gyn options.
Most women are oblivious to this piece of health politics until they expect their first child, when it becomes of vital interest.
I had friends who worked in early childcare, and in maternity nursing, so I had a heads-up before it was my turn, but I still did things with my first childbirth plan that I never repeated.
You expect to have the luxury of 'living & learning'; as this petition shows, for some women, that wasn't available under the current parameters of healthcare provision.
It does become a case of 'better informed, better resourced, better outcome', where those who can afford private specialists, or more expensive alternative processes, get a better experience and a less distressed newborn. This is hardly what the reforms in maternity care in the early 90's were aiming for.
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