Homebirth Australia opposes ACM-RANZCOG proposal to restrict non-clinical birth support: calls for evidence-based policy reform instead
The right to choose who supports you in childbirth is a human right.
Industry lobby groups just voted to take that away.
ACM and RANZCOG have called for legislation to restrict paid birth attendants at freebirth.
What they're really doing: restricting women's fundamental right to bodily autonomy and self-determination.
Australia has signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
It protects your right to equality, autonomy, privacy, and self-determination. Full stop. Not "except in pregnancy." Full autonomy.
Yet here we are. An organisation claiming to represent midwives is calling for legislation that restricts women's ability to choose their birth support.
Why do women choose to birth this way?
Because one in three Australian women are traumatised in hospitals.
Because the NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry documented systematic abuse.
Because women have been failed by the registered system.
Because most Australian women do not have access to continuity midwifery care.
And because systems are not in place to provide all options to all women.
And the response from industry lobby groups is to restrict them further.
This is about control. Not safety.
So what's the actual solution?
Not restriction. Expansion.
We need:
Continuity midwifery care for every woman. Most Australian women do not currently have access to a known midwife throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Fund this properly.
Medicare funding for homebirth. Women shouldn't have to choose between safety and affordability.
Include intrapartum homebirth in Medicare.
Accountability for hospital trauma.
The real crisis is abuse and disrespect in hospitals, not women choosing freebirth.
The NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry made this clear. Address it.
Women's voices at the table.
This policy was developed without consulting consumers or frontline midwives.
Listen to women. Ask them what they actually need.
These are the solutions. These protect women's health and autonomy.
If you believe women should have the right to choose how and where they birth, share this.
If you've experienced birth trauma and know restriction isn't the answer, speak up.
Email industry lobby groups, your local members of State and Federal Government. Tell them: focus on expanding access, not restricting choice. Listen to women.
Your birth. Your right. Your autonomy.
#WithWomenNotAgainstThem #ProtectHomebirth #BirthFreedom
The right to choose who supports you in childbirth is a human right.
Industry lobby groups just voted to take that away.
ACM and RANZCOG have called for legislation to restrict paid birth attendants at freebirth.
What they're really doing: restricting women's fundamental right to bodily autonomy and self-determination.
Australia has signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
It protects your right to equality, autonomy, privacy, and self-determination. Full stop. Not "except in pregnancy." Full autonomy.
Yet here we are. An organisation claiming to represent midwives is calling for legislation that restricts women's ability to choose their birth support.
Why do women choose to birth this way?
Because one in three Australian women are traumatised in hospitals.
Because the NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry documented systematic abuse.
Because women have been failed by the registered system.
Because most Australian women do not have access to continuity midwifery care.
And because systems are not in place to provide all options to all women.
And the response from industry lobby groups is to restrict them further.
This is about control. Not safety.
So what's the actual solution?
Not restriction. Expansion.
We need:
Continuity midwifery care for every woman. Most Australian women do not currently have access to a known midwife throughout pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Fund this properly.
Medicare funding for homebirth. Women shouldn't have to choose between safety and affordability.
Include intrapartum homebirth in Medicare.
Accountability for hospital trauma.
The real crisis is abuse and disrespect in hospitals, not women choosing freebirth.
The NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry made this clear. Address it.
Women's voices at the table.
This policy was developed without consulting consumers or frontline midwives.
Listen to women. Ask them what they actually need.
These are the solutions. These protect women's health and autonomy.
If you believe women should have the right to choose how and where they birth, share this.
If you've experienced birth trauma and know restriction isn't the answer, speak up.
Email industry lobby groups, your local members of State and Federal Government. Tell them: focus on expanding access, not restricting choice. Listen to women.
Your birth. Your right. Your autonomy.
#WithWomenNotAgainstThem #ProtectHomebirth #BirthFreedom
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