Victorian parliamentary committee calls for healthcare reform to help new mothers and their babies

ALL pregnant women would be screened for anxiety and depression as part of a sweeping plan to improve the care of new mothers and their children.

ALL pregnant women would be screened for anxiety and ­depression as part of a sweeping plan to improve the care of new mums and their bubs.

Free classes on labour, birth and parenthood would also be expanded under the recommendations of a cross-party parliamentary committee.

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The three-year inquiry, which reported on Wednesday, ­revealed widespread concerns about mothers being discharged from hospitals within 48 hours of giving birth in order to free up beds.

The committee urged the government to review hospital discharge policies.

Mental health issues, poor breastfeeding rates and a shortage of midwives and nurses are seen as the major challenges facing Victoria’s peri-natal healthcare system.

It urged the Andrews Government to implement public health advertising campaigns, focused on the mental health of mothers, the benefits of breastfeeding and the risks of smoking, drinking and taking drugs during pregnancy.

A Victorian parliamentary committee has called for wideranging reforms to peri-natal care. Generic picture: iStock

Other recommendations included:

FINANCIAL support to help mothers in rural and regional areas when they need care away from home;

INCENTIVES to attract and retain peri-natal health practitioners in regional areas;

NEW “day stay” clinics in the public health system to help mothers with breastfeeding;

LOBBYING the federal government to create a new Medicare item so mothers can claim a rebate for consultations with lactation experts.

Labor MP Paul Edbrooke, who chaired the family and community development committee, said it was told of “distressing situations” for new mothers, including separation from their children at birth and medical procedures taking place without warning.

He said the mental health of new mothers was a key focus, with one in five pregnant women experiencing anxiety and one in ten affected by depression.

The committee heard up to 80 per cent of new mums experienced “baby blues” — mood swings and feeling overwhelmed, teary and anxious in the days after giving birth — due to rapidly changing hormone levels.

The committee called for a new statewide taskforce to organise repeated mental health assessments of pregnant women, along with training for workers to carry out the assessments.

It also pushed the need for more parenting classes after the inquiry was told many were fully booked months in advance and often did not cover the mental health of parents.

The government will consider the inquiry’s recommendations, with a spokesman for Health Minister Jill Hennessy saying Victoria’s perinatal services were “the safest they have been in 15 years”.

“The Andrews Labor Government is making record investments in health to give mums the highest quality of treatment and care,” he said.

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