Mums-to-be win people power revolt over ‘offensive’ rules

Expectant mothers in Adelaide have staged a mass revolt against a ban on having partners by their sides during labour in what was labelled one of the most offensive rules created during the pandemic.

‘With these restrictions and not being able to have my partner there the whole time, it just adds more stress,’ says first-time mother Ashleigh Melling. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

Expectant mothers in Adelaide have staged a mass revolt against a ban on having partners by their sides during labour in what was labelled one of the most offensive rules created during the pandemic.

Health bureaucrats at a major Adelaide hospital told pregnant women last week that they would be allowed to have the father or designated birth partner with them only during “active labour”.

The bureaucrats went so far as to define this as when the woman’s cervix was “4cm dilated”, at which point fathers or partners would be allowed to enter the birthing suite.

The Northern Area Health Service further ruled the partners would be allowed to remain at the Lyell McEwin Hospital for only four hours after the baby was born.

They would then be barred from re-entering until the mother was discharged.

In a win for people power and common sense, the rules have been scrapped after more than 22,000 people flooded a Facebook petition in days to denounce the rules, which SA Health defended as “a Covid-safe measure” to limit visitor hours inside the hospital.

The rules had caused great distress among many women awaiting the birth of their child at what is the biggest and busiest hospital in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.

They include 25-year-old first-time mother Ashleigh Melling, who is 38 weeks pregnant and had planned all along to be joined by her husband, Bailey, the moment she went into labour. Ms Melling found out second-hand about the new arrangements late last week and immediately joined the Facebook campaign.

“I can go into labour any time from now, being a first time mum – I don’t really know what to expect,” she said on Thursday. “With all these restrictions in place and not being able to have my partner there the whole time, it just adds more stress and uncertainty.

“I only found out last week, not from the hospital … but there was a lot of talk on social media between women who had appointments and had spoken to midwives at the hospital. I emailed them myself and that’s when I found out.”

The new arrangements became a political headache for Premier Steven Marshall, who called the rules as “very tough” but stopped short of demanding their abolition, opting for “an urgent review”.

That decision was condemned by the opposition. “We don’t need a review or committee or seminar,” Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said. “When you are the Premier, you have an extraordinary amount of authority and that brings with it a degree of responsibility … to intervene or act.”

In a total capitulation, SA Health’s Northern Adelaide Local Area Health Network issued a statement on Thursday afternoon saying the old rules would now be in place. “Details are still being finalised (but) all women birthing at the Lyell McEwin Hospital can be rest assured their chosen support person can be present from the induction, not time limited,” it said.

“Parents can visit their newborn baby every day while they are in our care.”