Archive for the ‘Homebirth Access Sydney’ Category

The Minister wanted to inform the participants of her latest ideas on a solution to the problems caused by the intersection of the various bills that will make homebirth midwifery illegal. The Minister indicated that there is no way homebirth midwives will be included in the Medicare Benefits Schedule. She also indicated that she would like to work with the states to find a limited and short-term exemption for midwives to allow them to be registered without insurance after 1 July 2010 until an insurance product can be found. This proposal depends on the willingness of the states to negotiate and several states have expressed their unwillingness to go down this track.

Homebirth Access Sydney representatives met this morning with the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon. Also invited to the meeting were Homebirth Australia, Australian Private Midwives Association, Maternity Coalition, the Australian College of Midwives and independent midwife Robyn Thompson from Victoria.