Birth: a woman's right to decide?

A sobering article on Essential Baby site

What Women Want's Founder Justine Caines shares her views on the proposed maternity reforms.
Soon after the 2007 election, Nicola Roxon announced maternity reform that would enable women to choose a midwife to care for them for their pregnancy, labour, birth and for up to six weeks postnatally. This was to be funded under Medicare. The fantastic part was that it would be one midwife, enabling a woman to form a relationship, knowing who would share her birth experience with her and also provide home based post-natal care. Maternity reform advocates were excited and heralded this as a landmark.

Over the last year, however, we've seen intense lobbying from the Australian Medical Association (AMA). Late last year, the proposed reform was altered. Medicare funded midwifery would not go ahead unless a doctor 'signed off' the practices of the midwife, giving an individual doctor veto power over a midwife's practice and woman's decision making.

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Birth: a woman's right to decide?