12 months of Biloela maternity bypass arrives, no end in sight
A Biloela mum has shared the extreme emotional and financial toll of having a baby in the bush as women like her continue to suffer 12 months after the local maternity ward went on bypass.
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On August 25, 2022, Biloela’s maternity ward was placed on bypass.
Twelve months later and there is no end in sight for local families needing birthing services in the region.
Jess, who asked for her surname to remain anonymous, has been forced to live in Gladstone, two hours away from her husband and her Moura home, as she awaits the birth of a brother or sister for their toddler.
“I’m currently 39 weeks pregnant, and I’ve been classified as a low-risk birth. Under normal circumstances, I would have given birth in Biloela,” Jess said.
Jess is currently staying with her two-year-old while her husband works overtime in Moura to fund the cost of the private midwives who will help Jess during the birth.
“I know mums that are in booking Airbnbs months in advance just to have some stability while their husbands are working to try and afford the costs of accommodation,” she said.
“This should be something beautiful and natural and so exciting for families and it’s not going that way.
“It’s not fair.
“If I could have given birth in Biloela I would have had a 30 to 40 minute drive to the hospital, I would have been with my husband and I would have been able to stay at home.”
Jess described the stress on her family due to the bypass as extreme, saying her two-year-old cannot process the situation.
“It’s ridiculous. Theodore has a fully-equipped birthing ward that isn’t in use; it’s the same with Biloela, and it was the same in Gladstone until recently,” she said.
Moved by the care she has received from midwives, Jess has started studying midwifery in the hopes of can in turn help her community.
“I want to be able to prevent other people from going through what I have been through,” she said.
BRYSON HEAD, MEMBER FOR CALLIDE
Callide MP Bryson Head said none of the electorate’s 14 hospitals were designated for women to give birth.
About 16,000 women, including 2800 in Biloela, live in Callide, which is bigger in size than Tasmania.
“Biloela is a large rural centre that provides wealth and energy and food and fibre for this nation,” Mr Head said.
“Frontline staff have been neglected, and the bush has been neglected.
“If the lack of services in Biloela was seen as a political issue instead of a community issue it would have been fixed by now.”
Mr Head said he had spoken with multiple families who were concerned about the possibility of having babies on the side of the road.
“That’s not about inciting fear in mothers. It’s about preparing for a very real possibility,” he said.
Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ) president Dr Maria Boulton said they knew how hard it was to reopen a unit once it had closed.
“Our priority has to be on keeping units open,” she said.
“Most maternity units are just one resignation away from closing.
“There is no doubt that maternity services in regional Queensland are in crisis.
“This is a national crisis and we need the Premier and Health Minister to take this to National Cabinet.”
CQHHS RESPONDS TO OBSTETRICS SHORTAGE
Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CQHHS) chief executive Dr Emma McCahon said restoring usual birthing services to Biloela Hospital was a priority, however they continued to be impacted by a “worldwide obstetrics shortage”.
“Without an appropriate level of staffing, we cannot operate a service without exposing expectant mothers and their babies to an unacceptable risk and we will not do that to Biloela families,” she said.
The Queensland Government recently launched a $42 million initiative to boost regional and rural maternity care services and fund obstetric training for GPs.
Rural Doctors Association of Queensland (RDAQ) president Dr Alex Dunn said the positive action taken by the government had not been sufficient in caring for families.
“It’s clear the model of care we have now, isn’t working for many parts of rural and remote Queensland,” Dr Dunn said.
“It’s crucial the government prioritise and place significant value on collaborative models of care where midwives and rural generalists work in collaboration, in a woman-centred way, and where women have choice and continuity of care and carer.”
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