‘If we get pregnant, we will be posting out of Darwin’: Defence families react to maternity changes
Some defence families are postponing growing their family or are moving interstate as they cannot “risk having another pregnancy in Darwin”. Read the details.
Defence families are making plans to leave or delay starting a family in Darwin due to changes to maternity services, according to a recent survey.
In a probe sent to ADF families in the Top End distributed by organisers of the maternity forum Our Birth, Our Voice, responses show Darwin is becoming an unattractive posting for young couples and families.
Anonymised statements from over 15 families show an alarming response to the service upheaval with many planning to leave before having children or if they get pregnant.
“We are planning to start our family and having a lack of care options is extremely disappointing,” one person stated.
“Having the choice of going private was going to be our option but that option has now been taken away from us.
“It feels like women’s choices just don’t matter and it’s extremely upsetting.”
Some mentioned having negative experiences at Royal Darwin Hospital or hearing stories of poor service and support making them worried about going back.
“The post-natal care is so important and being forced to use RDH ruined that care for us,” one person said.
“If we could have our time again, we would have chosen not to have our first baby in the NT.”
Others mentioned the lack of options in Darwin compared to other capital cities and the loss of the private obstetricians who were based at the private hospital.
“We would have stayed at our Darwin posting if there had been better options,” one family stated.
“Especially for anyone falling into a higher risk pregnancy category.”
‘I simply cannot risk having another pregnancy here’
Continuity of care and the diminishing options available to families in Darwin was a key theme at a recent maternity forum Our Birth, Our Voice.
As a result, some families are making moves to leave Darwin in the next few weeks including Karine Foulkes and her husband, who works with the Defence Department, and have lived in the Northern Territory for eight years.
Before Frankie was diagnosed, Mrs Foulkes described getting multiple dismissals from doctors when she tried to seek help making her “feel unsafe” using the same system after her daughter died.
She also said she struggled to access proper mental health support.
“To this day I have panic attacks,” she said.
“I found safety in Darwin Private Hospital [when having her daughter Kirby].
“But now with the closure of Darwin Private Hospital, families like me don’t have a choice.
“Darwin is not just losing a hospital, it’s losing a lifeline.
“Without options for continuity of care, without specialised support, more families will be facing the same nightmares as mine did.”
She said they were planning to leave the Territory because she “simply cannot risk having another pregnancy here”.
“The system is broken not because people don’t care but because the care had been disconnected,” she said.
What support is offered by ADF in Darwin?
Defence families are supported during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period and usually provided with healthcare in the area where they are based.
However, if specialist support is needed in another location, Defence will pay for and help the family travel to where they need to go.
For maternity care, this is understood to include access to specialist obstetric services, hospital admission for delivery and postnatal care.
A Defence spokesman said Darwin was no exception to this but failed to specify if these “specialist services” meant flying families interstate.
“Both pregnant ADF members and families posted to the Northern Territory continue to access maternity care locally,” they said.
“However, Defence supports and enables travel to alternative facilities if specialist services are required.”
The spokesman said the Defence-supported healthcare has recently been widened to include private midwifery services.
It is understood this can be accessed in Darwin by ADF personnel.
Update on $35 million maternity funding
Since the announcement that Healthscope was closing its maternity ward was made earlier this year, there has been confusing communication on possible $35 million in federal funding to help support RDH.
It seemed the political ping pong was finally put to bed at the forum and that discussions were moving forward after a bit of back and forth between Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling and NT Health chief executive, Chris Hosking.
But Mr Gosling said afterwards the NT Government’s proposal is not a “detailed proposal”.
“Minister Butler has made it clear that the Commonwealth would be more likely to consider a detailed, costed proposal - the same standard met by New South Wales and Tasmania when they faced similar maternity service challenges,” he said.
“The NT Government has not done so.
“Our Government stands ready to help, but the ball is firmly in the Northern Territory Government’s court.”
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘If we get pregnant, we will be posting out of Darwin’: Defence families react to maternity changes
