REFORMS to the way midwives operate in WA may have been introduced last year, but unless doctors and hospitals get on board, the reforms are meaningless according to Gosnells midwife Pauline Costins.
Mrs Costins is the first eligible private practice midwife in the State following the reforms.
The changes made it possible for her to provide a midwife service not attached to a hospital that women could claim a Medicare rebate for.
Hospitals and doctors play a part in births, at least for most women, especially those with high-risk pregnancies, so there is a level of interaction required between private midwives, doctors and hospitals.
But Mrs Costins said doctors and hospitals had not been receptive to the reforms.
“Midwives have to collaborate with obstetricians, we need written agreement that an obstetrician is going to give support care, should I need them to.
“I’ve written to 40 doctors and received one response, which was a polite ‘no’.”
She believed the lack of support was a matter of money because midwives would take work away from doctors.
She added many hospitals would not allow her to provide her services in their hospitals
“I can’t take women into hospitals as a midwife, I have to drop them at the door. They don’t want me operating in their hospital.”
Mrs Costins said Kelmscott Armadale Memorial Hospital had made her a casual employee to let her provide her services at the hospital, but that was just a temporary solution.
She added that as well as giving a personalised service, a private midwife like herself offered six weeks of postnatal care in comparison to hospital midwives who provide about three days.
A spokesperson for the Australian Medical Association WA said the association was willing to meet with midwives to discuss collaborative agreements.