Insurance. It’s all about insurance. The Australian government is suddenly anxious that no midwives lose their homes if they’re sued by their clients, but they couldn’t give a damn if the same midwives lose their businesses and livelihoods. Oh, and their homes because they can no longer pay the mortgage. But hell, it’s better than not having Professional Indemnity Insurance in case you’re sued. Right?
So. The pool of Independent Midwives is tiny and they don’t warrant consideration for Professional Indemnity insurance because the premiums would be outrageous. But, under draft legislation currently being put through to parliament, every midwife will have to find insurance somewhere in order to register with the new national registration board. Under a different Bill, just to obfuscate matters, it will be illegal to practice midwifery without being registered. So, due to a technicality, failure to purchase insurance equals failure to register equals illegal midwife. Yet she has 20 years’ experience managing births and catching babies…
This legislation is dangerously open to interpretation. What exactly is the definition of “practicing midwifery” (which is about to become illegal unless the practitioner is registered and has their precious insurance)? Will they fine and jail a police officer for stopping to “deliver” a woman’s baby on the side of the road? That’s midwifery. It’s also the domain of Australia Post, Fed-Ex, and Pizza Hut. (Hey, lady! You order the Hawaiian with extra cheese?)
Seriously – would they charge a husband for telling his wife he can see the head and maybe she should push? What if it was her mother or sister with her when she went into a quick labour? Or a friend who’d done a first-aid course? Or does it only become “midwifery” when money changes hands? How crude.
Those of us who choose to birth at home with a midwife are in the minority. It’s an expensive choice, therefore it is not a choice available to many when it is free to birth in a public hospital. But the right to be involved in the planning of her birth and the right to choose the place and the people who attend her birth is considered a human right. And when the rights of one Australian are removed, it affects all Australians. How long before your choice slips away between two Bills? Would you notice?