Gladstone maternity advocates gobsmacked by lack of all-out recruitment drive urgency for GP obstetricians

Gladstone mothers are turning to “desperation freebirthing” as an advertising blitz for GP obstetricians is launched on day 199 of the maternity crisis.

Women are desperately and dangerously birthing at home without the presence of a doctor or midwife as it is revealed that on Monday — day 199 of the Gladstone maternity bypass — the government is launching advertisements to recruit GP obstetricians to the hospital.

Maternity consumer advocates, mums and GPOs say they are “gobsmacked” by the delay in a full-on recruitment dive into a fully trained pool of doctors and are angry that “desperation freebirthing” has started in the region.

Dr John Hall, a locum GPO and past president of the Rural Doctors’ Association Australia said he is on all locum advertising lists and there has been no call out for Gladstone and doesn’t believe any effort has been made to recruit GPOs.

Dr John Hall, past president of the Rural Doctors’ Association Australia.

“The ads never came. It’s taken nearly 200 days of bypass, and their inability to recruit specialists, for the current government to finally agree that a GP obstetric model is the best solution for Gladstone,” Dr Hall said

Queensland Health, however, insists that this week’s advertising blitz is not the first time the government has been engaging with GPOs to work at Gladstone.

Meanwhile a mother of three has revealed that she decided to have her third baby at home with her partner and no medics on hand. She moved to Gladstone from the Sunshine Coast due to the rental crisis and was devastated to find the local hospital’s maternity wing on bypass.

She knew she had fast births and was too scared she wouldn’t make the 100km journey to Rockhampton.

“I had promised certain people if anything didn’t seem right we would call the ambulance straight away,” she said.

Two hours after the birth of her little girl, her placenta had not been delivered. She ended up in the ambulance to Gladstone Hospital. Both mother and baby are well.

Doctors strongly advise against free births as complications can appear within minutes, putting lives of both baby and mother at risk.

Save Gladstone Maternity Ward advocate, Jemma Manwaring. Picture: Nilsson Jones

Jemma Manwaring, who runs the Save Gladstone Maternity Ward mums’ advocacy group, told The Courier-Mail that other mothers have asked her advice about having a free birth.

“This is how desperate mums are. And I tell them of the dangers and refer them to an expert. But with this going on I was gobsmacked to hear that the government has not gone hard from day one of the bypass to recruit any possible qualified obstetrician. I was at a meeting last week in Gladstone with the Health Minister Yvette D’Ath and Central Queensland executives and they announced then that Monday would see the launch of an advertising campaign to attract GPOs. I was demoralised to hear that offered up as a sudden solution on day 199 of the bypass. Where is the sense of urgency?” she said.

Alecia Staines from the Maternity Consumer Network is angry that women who don’t have reliable maternity services locally are forced to make other choices which can include freebirth.

Alecia Staines from the Maternity Consumer Network, pictured with her daughter Hermiony Staines.

Ms Staines also attended the meeting with the Minister and executives and said she was appalled that so late in the bypass they announced that they were advertising for GPOs.

“This was a viable solution presented by the community and our organisation months ago, yet we were told it wasn’t an option and even that it was unsafe,” she said.

Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Emma McCahon insisted that the HHS had already reached out to networks seeking obstetricians.

“GPs with obstetric skills would be very welcome to work at Gladstone if they are suitably experienced and qualified. We need to keep in mind there is a shortage of GPs at the moment and doctors are in great demand. We are about to advertise formally again for GP obstetricians, to supplement the requests we have already made to our networks, both in Queensland and in other states.”

Rural Doctors Association Queensland president Matt Masel said the association has been meeting with the department over the last few days to talk about the use of GP obstetricians as a solution to Gladstone but also on a wide scale in the state.

Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said the delays in a concerted push to advertise for GPOs shows the “paralysis that is rotting this government”.