Midwives and maternity consumers are welcome to forward any comments on these or other published articles, to appear on this blog.
SMH 3 January 2009, by Julie Robotham Public hospitals vs private: the painful truth about childbirth
An interesting piece has been published by the Daily Telegraph, NSW, from Sue Dunlevy, Canberra Correspondent 'Robbing Sick as birth fee rises'
My response has been sent to the Editor:
I am a self employed midwife, meaning that in order to make a living I compete with obstetricians and public maternity services, working in the most anti-competitive sector of public health. Midwives are fully qualified to be *primary* maternity care providers, as opposed to obstetricians who are *specialist* maternity care providers, and may not be skilled in promoting normal birth.
It is not easy to make a living this way, as there is no public funding at all for women who choose a midwife as their primary maternity care provider. A midwife's fees don't even get considered in the 'safety net'.
The inequity of Australian health funding through Medicare is so obvious, yet no government has been prepared to do anything about it. It's a huge con. The emperor HAS no clothes. We pointed the fact that obstetricians were "ripping off the system'' to Mr Abbott when he was health minister, without any apparent effect. I am hoping this anti competitive monopoly will change.
Joy Johnston
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