Having a baby will no longer cost an arm and a legThe Federal Budget cuts to the obstetric safety net took effect on January 1. But are families in for an “expensive surprise”? Actually, it’ll be a fairer system designed to cut down on inflated medical costs by providers, writes Sally Tracy.
Midwifery
Midwives damn AMA-induced amendments to maternity reform
Rather than listening to medical advice on the long-awaited maternity reforms, the government pays attention to a union more focused on protecting incomes than helping prospective mothers, writes Professor Lesley Barclay and Professor Sally Tracy.
Home birth wingnuts shouting down major steps forward for midwifery
No one is stopping Australian women who want home births from choosing them, writes Bernard Keane.
A veil of secrecy over home births?
A Senate committee has acknowledged that the new changes to midwifery registration will possibly “drive home births underground”, since the government will not cover medical indemnity insurance for home births.
Tips and rumours: The Maldives are sinking too
A Crikey tipster says today: Oxfam AND Crikey have forgotten the Maldives, whose president recently announced he was looking to evacuate his entire 350,000 people to either Sri Lanka or Indonesia.
To whom it may concern: On the pain of childbirth
How can statements about childbirth, pain and preparing for motherhood be ‘innocent’? asks DW from Nottingham.
The pain of childbirth is ‘valuable’. So suck it up
So the pain that comes from pushing something the size of a watermelon out of something the size of a lemon is “valuable.” Say what? asks Sophie Black.
Labour in pain: should women say no to the epidural?
Just what women need. Senior midwife Dr Denis Walsh has written in Evidence Based Midwifery that although epidurals are sometimes important, pain can help regulate the birth process.
Health budget: clever, but way off
The health budget measures are a clever response to a difficult situation, writes Robert Wells.
