Maternity advocacy group appeals for increased resources in Atherton
More than 150 Tablelands families have called for action as expectant mothers lose faith in Atherton Hospital's once "gold standard" maternity care.
Tablelands women are “distressingly” turning to home birth because of worries about maternity services at Atherton Hospital, according to a local advocacy group that has taken its concerns directly to the Queensland health minister.
Atherton Midwives and Mothers Alliance Consumer Group representative, Ellen McGuigan said with more than 150 people had signed a petition expressing concerns about staffing and support for maternity services at Atherton Hospital, particularly with the Midwifery Group Practice where “gold standard’ care means building a relationship between mother and midwife throughout pregnancy, birth and beyond.
She said families were “increasingly anxious about potential closures and diversions” and concerned about continuity of care.
“One mother who gave birth recently saw five different midwives throughout the pregnancy and birth, including agency nurses,” Ms McGuigan said.
“Women in our community really value the high quality services we have had and we want to keep this going.”
Ms McGuigan said women were seeing more temporary staff working in the hospital and, although mothers reported midwives were providing excellent care, mothers were no longer experiencing continuity of care throughout their pregnancies and births.
Ms McGuigan said some families were turning to home birth with a private midwife.
“Women across our (Tablelands) region are reporting the loss of Midwifery Group Practice and continuity of care, increased stress and reduced confidence in their care due to unfamiliar staff and care being diverted to Cairns without clear or adequate medical reasoning,” Ms McGuigan said.
“These experiences make it clear that the Atherton Maternity Unit is at a tipping point (and) without urgent investment in staffing, funding and restoration of proven continuity models of care, the safety and wellbeing of mothers, babies, and midwives will continue to be at risk.
“This is unacceptable.”
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service Chief Executive Leena Singh said there had been a “notable increase” in births in the Tablelands region over the past two years with 20 and 30 additional births recorded consecutively at Atherton Hospital.
She said the health service was reviewing midwife staffing ratios and skill mix at Atherton Hospital “to explore opportunities for enhancing midwifery resources for families in the community.”
“While we are reviewing these opportunities, we have increased the overnight on call shifts and approved a new clinical midwife position.” Ms Singh said.
“Our Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) model which was first introduced in Queensland at Mareeba Hospital is a popular model for women with low-risk birthing needs and we are committed to ensuring we continue to provide the best quality care for all expectant mothers.”
State Member for Hill Shane Knuth directed a question on notice to health minister Tim Nichols during parliament last week, asking the Minister to investigate immediately and commit to increased staffing of the Atherton Hospital Maternity Unit.
His question referenced “severe staffing shortages at the Atherton Hospital Maternity Ward Unit, with midwives lacking adequate support in response to their requests for assistance and local women expressing disappointment at the reduced continuity of care for them during pregnancy and post-partum.”
The Minister has until December 1 to respond.
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Originally published as Maternity advocacy group appeals for increased resources in Atherton
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