Homebirth Network of South Australia

Face of Birth

2012-02-18T02:55:00.001-08:00

The Homebirth Network of SA is very excited to be hosting a premiere screening of the new Australian documentary "The Face of Birth"

The Face Of Birth. A film about pregnancy, childbirth and the power of choice.

The Face of Birth is a feature length documentary which examines contemporary birthing practices through the personal stories and journeys of families who have chosen to birth their babies at home. It also contains interviews with over 25 of the world top birth experts, including the famed Sheila Kitzinger author of over 26 books on pregnancy and childbirth, and the founder of modern midwifery in the USA; Ina May Gaskin.

The film explores the importance of how, where and with whom we give birth and aims to dispel myths, present facts and give a face to families who birth at home.

Three years in the making, filmed across the globe from London to Alice Springs, The Face Of Birth is a moving documentary with vital information for anyone considering giving birth in Australia today.

What: "The Face of Birth" premiere screening

When: Sunday 18th March, 2012

Where: Mercury Cinema, 13 Morphett St, Adelaide

Session Times: 2:15 pm and 4:15pm

Running Time: 90 minutes

Ticket Price: $20.00

There will be two session times offered (2:15pm and 4:15pm), with afternoon tea provided between the two screenings for a gold coin donation.

Tickets available through Moshtix at at www.moshtix.com.au, or phone 1300 GET TIX (438 849) or at all moshtix outlets.

2.15 session

4.15 session

Proudly brought to you in partnership with

We can't wait to see the film and hope you can join us for the premiere of this highly anticipated documentary

Visit www.faceofbirth.com for more information about the film. Copies of the DVD will be available for sale on the day.

A third of women should be giving birth at home

2012-02-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

Big push for home births:

Too many babies are being born in hospital, say doctors
Maternity wards are 'not necessarily the safer option'
Third of women should give birth without seeing a doctor, say medical experts

Homebirth Australia - media release

2012-02-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

Homebirth Australia

MEDIA RELEASE FROM HOMEBIRTH AUSTRALIA
February 1 2012

In the wake of the recent death of a woman in Victoria, many parents around Australia today will be feeling sorrow for Caroline Lovell's tragic death and sadness for the family she has left behind. Her death following her planned home birth was the first incident of a mother dying related to a home birth in Australia since 1999 as reported by Australian government data.1 “The call for a ban on home births in yesterday's Herald Sun because of one maternal death since 1999 is completely illogical. Sadly many women died in Australian hospitals in childbirth last year - should we ban hospital births, too?” Michelle Meares, Homebirth Australia spokesperson said.

In Australia our maternal mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world at 8.4 in every 100,000 women. The latest statistics, from 2003-05, show only 65 maternal deaths occurred in Australia. None of these were related to home births.

“Home births have consistently been proved to be safe. Large international studies, including a Dutch study with over 500 000 women show there is no increase in deaths of mothers or babies when women birth at home with a midwife.

“Many studies show women who have a planned home birth have fewer interventions, including epidurals and inductions, and use of forceps, vacuum extraction or caesarean birth. Homebirthing mothers and babies are less likely to experience the complications associated with these procedures, including the significantly increased risk of death and severe complications for both that follows a caesarean birth.

More and more families are choosing to have a home birth in Australia, with a 33 per cent increase between 2004 and 2009. In the US, they've just recorded the highest rate of home births ever, with a 30 per cent rise in home births in the same period.

“The choice about where to give birth belongs with a woman and her family. Parents have the right to make decisions about their children -- what they eat, where they go to school and also where they give birth. To suggest that right should be taken away is ridiculous in today's democratic society,” Ms Meares said.

“The private midwives who attend homebirths are highly trained professionals who carry equipment for dealing with medical emergencies. Women who opt to birth at home choose to do so because they've decided that it's the safest place for their babies and themselves. Women choose a home birth because they want to give birth in the comfort of their home, with a midwife they know and trust. They want their families to be with them and they want to be in control of the experience.

“Caroline has been reported as being a homebirth advocate. When there was a threat to homebirths due to the Federal Government’s new midwifery legislation in 2009, Caroline responded the way thousands of women around the country did by sending submissions to a Senate Inquiry which have been reported in the media.

“Despite the Federal Government’s announcements around the National Maternity Services Plan in November 2011, planned homebirth has yet to be properly funded or supported.

“In the UK, where 22% of women reported that they would prefer a homebirth, the government has made a pledge to ensure that all women have the option of a homebirth, Australian women deserve the same”, Ms Meares said.

In 2009, there were 863 planned homebirths, representing 0.3% of all women who gave birth. The average age of women who choose a homebirth is 31.7 years, 75% are having their second or subsequent baby and 58.6% of homebirths occur in major cities. According to Dr Sarah Buckley, mother of four homeborn children, former GP and now writer on pregnancy, birth and parenting: “Homebirth is a safe option with significant advantages for mothers and babies. The extremely low need for intervention that happens when women feel private and safe in their own home, is reflected in lower rates of complications, including prematurity, low birth weight, infections, lacerations, post-partum haemorrhage and retained placenta, International studies support the safety of planned homebirth for healthy mothers and babies.”

For further information: Jo Scard 0457 725 953

(Report on Maternal Deaths in Australia, 1997-1999. http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442467619)

(Report on Maternal Deaths in Australia, 2003-2005. http://www.aihw.gov.au/media-release-detail/?id=6442464747)

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Homebirth Australia is the peak homebirth body. Our members are consumers, midwives and related health professionals committed to ensuring the survival of homebirth as a birth option for Australian women.

Homebirth Australia aims to:

support the rights of homebirth parents to choose how, where and with whom they give birth.
increase public awareness and acceptance of homebirth.
provide communication and support to members of Homebirth Australia.
provide information to parents planning homebirth.
provide information, support and networking to service providers.
convene an annual national conference.

Book launch that you may be interested in!

2012-02-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

Empower yourself & be part of the positive birth revolution!

Join us Feb 12th to celebrate the launch of A Modern Woman's Guide to a Natural Empowering Birth in Adelaide SA!! (other cities listed under events on www.inspiringbirthstories.com.au)

Please share this event with your Adelaide friends & hope to see u there :)

https://www.facebook.com/events/227234430696403/

When push comes to shove, home births don't deserve to be demonised

2011-12-20T03:06:00.000-08:00

A recent study in Canada examined 2889 home births attended by registered midwives in British Columbia and 4752 planned hospital births attended by the same group of midwives, compared with 5331 births in hospitals attended by doctors. The study concluded that ''women planning birth at home experienced reduced risk for all obstetric interventions measured and similar or reduced risk for adverse maternal outcomes''.

In the Netherlands, about 30 per cent of women give birth at home, providing the ideal opportunity for a long overdue large-scale study into its safety. Researchers studied more than 500,000 births over seven years and found births for low-risk pregnancies were as safe at home as in hospital.

It's time to stop demonising home birth and start listening to women's desires to birth naturally, whether that be in hospitals, birth centres or their own homes.

Welcoming all comers!

2011-12-12T23:14:00.000-08:00

I was asked a question the other day about birthing at home with the Women's and Children's Hospital's program. I thought I'd post something about that, as this group is about women who homebirth - regardless of how they do it, who they do it with, or why they do it.

If you'd like more information about the program, look at their brochure on the subject.

{Emma}

Such a simple statement...

2011-12-12T23:13:00.001-08:00

The way we are born influences our whole lives.

— Alyona Lebedeva

Home births a labour of love for some

2011-10-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/home-births-a-labour-of-love-for-some/story-e6frea6u-1226171113682

WHEN Helen Lane fell pregnant with her fifth child in January last year, she began to dread the prospect of once again giving birth in a hospital.

After four "awful" experiences giving birth - all in Scottish hospitals - the now Adelaide-based mother feared another unpleasant experience.

Then she came across midwife Wendy Thornton, who introduced her to the home birthing concept.
After initial doubts, Ms Lane had Ms Thornton deliver her baby Jemimah at her Woodside home in September last year.

She couldn't have been happier with the result.

"The home birth was wonderful," Ms Lane said.

"Wendy was a very experienced midwife - she's been doing it for over 20 years and she's worked in hospitals.

"I trusted her implicitly and I knew that if I had any cause to go to hospital, she'd get me there in time and she wouldn't hedge any bets."
This compared with a stillbirth rate of 7.4 per 1000 births across all births in Australia that year.

Australian College of Midwives spokeswoman Hannah Dahlen said there was a huge amount of research that showed home births were safe when carried out under the right circumstances.

"For low-risk women who are attended by competent midwives who are well connected into the system, we have the same outcomes for babies and much better outcomes for mothers," she said.

While the vast majority of women choose to give birth in hospital, there are those who are loath to do so.
Ms Dahlen said these were often women with previous bad experiences in hospitals, or those who had endured some form of sexual abuse.

For Ms Lane, each of her four hospital births were bad experiences.

"It was horrific, absolutely horrific," she said.

"It was just really impersonal and intrusive. It was very physical, whereas Wendy doesn't examine people unless they absolutely need it. But at the hospital I just felt like a cow."

Ms Dahlen said it was this fear or dislike of hospitals that drove women with high-risk pregnancies - such as twins or a baby in breech - to have home births despite the risks. She said this was compounded by a health system that did not support home births.

"We're one of the few countries that has no funding for home births, so women have to pay out of their pockets," she said.

"We have no insurance for private midwives attending births at homes.

"We've got a system where midwives also have no access to go into a hospital with their mother and continue to provide care.

"This is a dangerous system, because it is a disincentive for women to go into hospital when they need to and for midwives to encourage them when they need to do that."

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state secretary Elizabeth Dabars said a problem for independent midwives was they were not covered by insurance during home births.

While all other health professionals must show proof of liability insurance, midwives who attend home births have been temporarily excluded from the indemnity until September next year.

Ms Dabars said this was not a viable long-term solution and the State Government needed to resolve the insurance issue and/or provide additional services for women aside from hospitals.

The risk of not resolving the problem was women taking greater risks with home births, including using unregistered practitioners and opting for home births even when their pregnancy was considered high risk.
The president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Dr Rupert Sherwood, said the college did not support home birthing because it was associated with an unacceptably high rate of adverse outcomes.

He said the college was instead in favour of making hospitals "more friendly and a nicer environment for mothers and their babies".

However, he said the college was also "pro choice".

"If people do choose to have babies at home, then they should be fully informed that in our opinion the risks are increased over that of a hospital-based or health centre-based birth," he said.

"The problem with obstetrics is something serious can happen."

A home birth is the "most empowering experience a woman can have"

2011-10-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/5834464/Mums-push-home-birth-over-hospital-delivery

A home birth is the "most empowering experience a woman can have", says mother Bianca Entwistle ahead of home-birthing week, due, in an ironic twist, to start on Labour Day.

Mrs Entwistle gave birth to her first child almost 20 years ago in hospital, and she said the experience put her off having children again for years.

"The amount of interventions they did from the start, they broke my waters first, and then from there it was a snowball effect – they had to keep making more and more interventions and ultimately my labour was such an intense pain, far more than it needed to be, and the decisions were taken out of my hands."

Mrs Entwistle said so many interventions were performed that she had to have an episiotomy – a surgical incision on the perineum and the posterior vaginal wall during the second stage of labour.

She said it wasn't until 13 months ago, when she gave birth to baby Soul, that she realised what kind of experience giving birth "could be".

"It was calm, you're able to make the decisions yourself, and you go with the flow but you are able to focus on the birth of your son, rather than not really knowing what is going on."

The awareness week will run from October 24 to 30.

Throughout the Celebrate Home Birth Week, the Manawatu Home Birth Association will be holding a number of events and information evenings.

Four delegates from Manawatu will also be going to a national conference on pregnancy, home birthing and parenting, to be attended by 150 delegates nationwide. It will have eight speakers, including one from Australia.

For more information on all the events being held in the region, visit homebirthmanawatu.wordpress.com or visit the Manawatu Home Birth Association Facebook page.

- Manawatu Standard

Home Birth – It’s your choice!

2011-10-15T00:19:00.000-07:00

Home Birth – It’s your choice!

Press Release: Home Birth Aotearoa Home Birth – It’s your choice!

Home Birth Awareness Week commences from Monday October 24, 2011 – appropriately, this is also observed as Labour Day. For Home Birth Aotearoa, the national organisation of New Zealand’s home birth groups, the week will kick off with the gifting of “It’s Your Choice!” care packages to twenty-five locations around the country. The care packages will contain meaningful messages, gifts and resources for these volunteer-led groups that are being recognised by Home Birth Aotearoa as integral to New Zealand’s essentially grassroots home birth movement: “Every person who supports home birth within their community is creating positive change to our birth culture here in New Zealand” says Home Birth Aotearoa spokesperson Jeannette Lazet.

Home Birth Aotearoa believes that New Zealand is leading the globe in terms of maternity choices and Ms Lazet says that: “The home birth scene is thriving here - we are supporting levels of enthusiasm and development not seen since the 90s”. Regional home birth groups are diverse in structure and consist of midwives, families and whanau who volunteer at a community and national levelto encourage and support home birth choices. The theme launched this Home Birth Awareness week is: Supporting a strong and flourishing network of active home birth groups throughout Aotearoa. The intention is simple; to facilitate networking within New Zealand communities and encourage a culture of proactive, positive support for home birth and for the home birth groups of Aotearoa.

The catchphrase “Home birth - It’s your choice” is a message that Home Birth Aotearoa actively promotes to all well women in New Zealand. In giving thought to how this phrase applies at a community and national level, Home Birth Aotearoa recognised the ripple effects of an empowered birth choice: “It goes beyond the experience itself. The basic act of sharing home birth experiences, knowledge and choices empowers people at an individual, community, national and international level. This is the simple gravity of birth and of human experience” says Ms Lazet.

To date this year, Home Birth Aotearoa’s key initiatives have had a distinct focus on unity and connection. This included the honouring and support of student midwives on International Day of the Midwife in May. And while midwives play a key role in New Zealand’s maternity care system, according to Home Birth Aotearoa, we each hold a vital role in terms of the birth culture of New Zealand: “Midwives are valuable, knowledgeable people, yet we cannot expect them to fulfil absolutely every need of a pregnant or birthing woman. As community and as whanau, we too should hold a sense of duty to our birthing women and to the newest members of our nation” says Ms Lazet. It would seem then, that as that community, and as whanau, indeed it’s our choice how we care for one another.

Home Birth Awareness Week 2011:
• Commences from Monday Oct 24 to Sunday Oct 30
• Includes the Home Birth Aotearoa biannual hui on Friday Oct 28
• Concludes with the biennial home birth national conference themed Today’s choices: Tomorrow’s parents
Check out www.homebirth.org.nz for more information and to contact your local home birth support group. Also go to http://todayschoices.org/ for information on the home birth national conference.

Membership forms

2011-09-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

New one for 2012!

Welcome!

2011-08-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

As a place-holder while the current website gets a much-needed revamp, we're going to use a blog! Stay tuned for updates including:

New Facebook presence
Photos, stories and journies
Gatherings, coffee mornings and birth story circles
Updated information on the current status of homebirth in South Australia
Research, information and links!