Regional Maternity Services Forum seeks solutions to bush birthing crisis

The Regional Maternity Services Forum in Canberra has brought together 70 stakeholders and experts to discussed improved access to safe maternity care in rural, regional and remote Australia.

The forum follows the announcement of a state inquiry into birth trauma in NSW, sparked by complaints made from within the Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD).

Rural Doctors Association (RDAA) president Megan Belot said the focus of the forum was on achieving practical solutions to the crisis impacting rural maternity services.

"We want to stop the closures of rural maternity services and periods of extended bypass that continue to impact not just young families, but whole communities, across rural Australia," Dr Belot said.

"The risks to rural mothers and babies are enormous when there is no local birthing service, the costs to rural families are huge, and there are also significant indirect costs to rural communities.

"When a local maternity unit is closed, doctors and midwives leave town too and other local health services are often lost."

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A recurring theme in submissions to the birth trauma inquiry is the lack of interdisciplinary care available in many regional, rural, and remote hospitals.

GP obstetrician Trudi Beck told The Daily Advertiser this was the "gold standard" when it came to maternity care, before, during and after the birth.

Patients and allied health workers in MLHD have both identified a lack of available midwives in the region as something that has contributed to birth trauma.

The Australian College of Midwive's chief midwife, Alison Weatherstone, said a lack of attention paid to maternity services by successive governments had created this problem.

"Inadequate investment in rural maternity services by governments, combined with shortages of local health professionals, has seen more than 150 rural maternity units being closed over the past 20 years and many others downgraded," Ms Weatherstone said.

"Now is the time for innovative approaches to retain, sustain and rebuild maternity care in rural Australia. We need to provide rural maternity care models that work so mothers, babies and families can receive the care they deserve close to home.

"This means significantly increasing access to midwifery led continuity models of care for all women as well as investing in the workforce with ongoing education, training and incentives. Importantly, we need to attract people into midwifery and also to live and work in rural and remote areas."

The priority of the forum is to develop an agreed set of practical solutions for government and health services.

The coincidence with the state inquiry has cast a spotlight on how common birth trauma is across the country, and how it can impact women and families for the rest of their lives.

Up to a third of women who have given birth have experienced birth trauma. Of these, one in eight go on to develop symptoms of PTSD.

The NSW parliamentary inquiry has already received more than 4000 submissions.

Committee chair Emma Hurst said this alone demonstrates the prevalence of birth trauma.

Given the large number of submissions received and the need to start organising hearings, the committee is prioritising submissions received from within NSW.

"The committee appreciates the response to our call for submissions," Ms Hurst said.

"The sheer number of submissions alone demonstrates the prevalence of birth trauma and the urgent need to consider legislative, policy or other reforms that can be enacted to prevent birth trauma.

"Thank you to all individuals from across the country who have taken the time to share their story with us."

A proposed September inquiry hearing in Wagga has been delayed to give the committee more time to read submissions.

NSW Health and the MLHD have said they will cooperate with the inquiry.

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