A stuffed up prick

On Wednesday I got a letter from the Family Assistance office letting me know that according to their records Xav's immunisations weren't up to date. Being that the only one he was missing was the chicken pox one, I called up to let then know that he had already had the chickenpox and wouldn't be needing the injection. After explaining this to the lovely lady on the phone, she then said "Well, apart from the chickenpox one, he is also missing his last Hep B" I knew this wasn't right as right in front of me, written in his little red baby book was the 12th April 2010, Hep B and the serial number. She then went on to say "No, on that day your son had the flu shot, not the Hep B" I'm just thinking now that it's a computer error and after checking with my Dr's surgery it'll be all sorted out. The lovely lady says she'll give the surgery a call to find out and she'd call me back.

I thought nothing much of it, still disbelieving that a mistake like that could actually be made. An hour or so later, she called me back. "Mrs Penney, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but your son was actually given a flu injection NOT a hep-b as you and the Dr had requested" As you can imagine, I was FURIOUS. I could not believe that my son had been injected with something that I did not request and I was only finding about it now.  It happened 5 months ago.

I wanted to march straight down there and give them the full wrath of my fury, but Duane was out getting the kids and his haircut, so I thought it best to wait for him.  However, by the time he got home the surgery had shut. 

The next day I called up to make an appointment, explaining what it was for.  The receptionist was very apologetic and suggested that I talked to the RN in charge.  The Rn apologised profusely, in between my ranting and raving about how angry I was this happened and wanting to know how they were going to guarantee it didn't happen again.  She thought I might be better off talking to the Manager of the clinic, so she put me through.  Once again, more apologies and more ranting.  The Manager did tell me straight out "I'm not going to lie to you, I've been put in the position for the last 6 weeks to clean up this clinic as there have been a few issues"  She also went on to say that the Rn who was responsible for Xav's injection had been fired only a week after starting, because of a few issues - including one similar to ours.  She is apparently suspended from working as an RN, and is in the process of being reviewed by the medical board.  I said that I also wanted to add a formal complaint and she agreed that a incident report will be completed and will be accompanying the review.

I remember that when I got Xav's injection, I'd forgotten his red book, so I took it down a few days later to be filled in.  I can't remember who filled it in, but whoever did wrote "Hep B - 12th April 2010" followed by a serial number.  I queried the manager about the number and she confirmed to be that it was a FAKE number, and she can only assume that it was the same RN and she has done that to cover herself.  SO not only did she stuff up and give the wrong immunisation, she's falsified documents too.  Wrong on so many levels.

I've been playing the "What If" game over and over in my head.  What if he did have a reaction and we took him to hospital and he was treated as if it was from the Hep b injection?  Considering the flu vaccine was withdrawn for children under 5, just a few days after Xav received it - certainly would have been nice to be aware and alert for symptoms.  It's just inexcusable that such an error and cover up were made.

I put a lot of effort and consideration into how and what immunisations we give the kids.  To have our decisions on what we give our child taken out of our hands angers me so much.  I know that the flu shot is not likely to harm him, but it's still NOT an immunisation that Duane or I would have agreed to for our children.   Also now we have the added inconvenience of taking Xav back for the RIGHT injection - Hep b. 

I have asked the medical centre for a written apology, explaining what injection we went in for and what he actually got.  I am going to be chasing the complaint up too, making sure that it gets done.  I know mistakes happen, but I'm not going to just let this one slide. 

Complacency and lack of attention to the small things, creates a slippery slope to big mistakes.

Every Woman, Every Choice

In light of the proposed legislation regarding Homebirth, Maternity Coalition are holding a National day of action on the 4th July. I was originally going to go to the rally in Byron Bay, until we decided to hold our own on the Gold Coast. A few girls from the Friends of the Birth Centre & I are organising a rally to be held in Broadbeach tomorrow at 10am.

We've sent out invitations to as many people as we could (good 'ol facebook!), alerted the media and also our local politicians. I wrote to my local MP, who also happens to be one of my good friends husbands - so slightly awkward. I was tossing up whether to go with the casual "friendly" approach, or keep it formal. Astra did suggest I just wrote, "This is crap, oppose it", but I thought I should be a little nicer than that!

I'm a bit nervous about how everything is going to go tomorrow. We spent yesterday making up some banners and signs, then today I decided to quickly make up some bandanna's with "Our Birth, Our Choice" embroidered on them. They turned out well, so I'll had them out to a few people tomorrow. We wanted to do a walk, but as it was a last minute decision to hold the rally, we wouldn't have been able to get council approval in time. So we are just going to set up an area, with some banners, our signs, some information and just hope and pray that people turn up. I'll be happy if we get more than 20 people.

I'm taking the kids, and Grace must have been taking notice when we were making signs yesterday, she's been yelling out "My Birth, My Choice" and "Have a Homebirth". Very Cute. Duane's playing golf in the morning, but has asked how much bail money he thinks he will need to get us all out of jail!

I just think it's a really important cause. If the legislation goes through, it will be a very sad day for women's rights in Australia. I still can't believe that the Government is wanting to make it Illegal for Homebirth with a midwife to happen, for it to be a criminal act. It is so wrong that the choice of where to birth is taken out of our hands and being decided by a bunch of suits in Canberra.

So I'm channelling my inner 70's protester, and doing my bit to put a stop to this outrageous proposal.

Here's the letter I have sent to my local MP, Nicola Roxon (Health Minister) and K-Rudd.


Dear *****,

I am writing to you in regards to the proposed legislation that is going to make homebirth with a qualified Midwife in Australia Illegal.

Recently, draft legislation has been released that affects the ability of women in Australia to birth at home with a registered midwife in attendance. The title of the draft is “Health Practitioner Regulation National Law 2009” and can be found on the website: http://www.nhwt.gov.au/natreg.asp.

The legislation states that from July 2010, health practitioners will need to be registered, and have insurance in order to do so. Unfortunately, no insurance has been made available to Independent Midwives, so they will not be able to register.
The legislation also includes a proposed fine of $30,000 for people who “incite or direct” unprofessional conduct. I can only assume, not being a lawyer, that this would include a woman who offers money to a midwife to attend her birth at home.

I am outraged that Homebirth will be a crime, and that those participating will be treated as criminals. I have had 2 hospital births and was planning on homebirths for any future children; my choice may soon be illegal. I am also planning on studying a Bachelor of Midwifery next year, with the hope of one day becoming an Independent Midwife. If this legislation is passed, I will have to rethink my career choice.

I wonder, if the choice to homebirth is taken away, will women still birth at home, but without a Midwife? Surely this is not a situation that the Government would like to encourage, considering Homebirth with an Independent Midwife has been proven to be a safe option.

This legislation is anti-women, anti-choice, indeed, anti-human rights. Please help prevent this backward step.

I also wanted to let you know that Maternity Coalition is conducting a “Day of Action” to send a message to Canberra that we do not accept being told where we can birth our babies. These rallies will be happening all over Australia, including one in your Electorate.

The details are as follows:
Day: Saturday 4th July
When: 10am
Where: Pratten Park

I urge you to oppose this legislation. Homebirth is not a crime.

Yours Sincerely

Kirsten Penney

Choice

Where a family chooses to birth their baby should be their choice, but it's all become very political. Having an Independant Midwife and a planned homebirth is a safe choice for many healthy pregnant women. Soon though, this choice may be made illegal.

At the moment you can pay for your own homebirth, but come July 2010 there is a good chance that having a homebirth with a qualified midwife will be illegal. A review into maternity services has been conducted and included in the recommendations are that all maternity practitioners will need insurance to be able to register. Fine, that makes sense. EXCEPT there is NO insurance product available for Private Midwives. So if an Independant Midwife can not get insurance she can not practice and if she does practice it will mean jail time. This doesn't just rule out midwives at homebirth, it also rules out Independant midwives helping Mum's in the antenatal period and also postnatal. At the moment Independatn Midwives are registered but are not required to have insurance. They have a contractual agreement with their clients stating that they do not have indemnity insurance.

Homebirths will still be available in some states that offer funded midwifery programs, but whilst these programs are a great step in the right direction, the selection criteria is very strict and not enough spots to fill the demand.

Such a life changing and important event such as child birth has been medicalised to the point that the thought of performing the most natural human function at home is going to be illegal. You can choose a fully elective C/s, but you WILL NOT be able to choose to have one-on-one midwifery care at home.

I understand that homebirth is not for everyone, just the same that an Elective C/s is not for everyone, but at least those that choose to have a c/s can have one. It will not be an option after July 2010, unless the recommendations aren't followed through. Homebirth is not for everyone but it should still be a valid choice that is supported and respected, heck it should even be funded. Maternity takes up one of the largest proportion of beds at hospitals, surely if homebirth was available and funded these beds could be freed up for truely sick people. Homebirth is still such a minority, but maybe with more positive births talked about and the fear of birth worked through, it may become an option for more people. Too often women are labeled "patients" when for the majority, they are not sick, just pregnant.

Trust of birth is lost in the need to induce, intervene and perform surgery. So many women are falling victim to the cascade of interventions, and made to make uninformed decisions based sometimes on manipulation and fear. It starts with all talk of being overdue. Normal gestation is 38-42 weeks, only 3 % of babies are actually born on their magic due date. It's an average. So many women are offered inductions just after passing the 40 week mark, because they are so overdue. I wonder if many women are told about the higher risk of other intervention that goes along with being induced? How often are they told about the importance of keeping waters intact until they break by themselves? Your waters are there to cushion the baby, allowing them to move into the best position for birth. If they are artificially broken, the baby is dropped into the pelvis suddenly and sometimes not in the optimum position, making for a harder second stage. Of course this still happens if waters break naturally, but why break the waters unnecessarily just to speed things up?

Homebirth is not all about long-haired hippy women birthing their babies with whale music and incense burning in the background. Those that choose to homebirth do so because they have faith in the process and understand that birth is a physiological process. They want what is best for their baby and that is to be in a safe, protected environment, surrounded by positive people who are all emotionally involved in the intimate act of their birth. The midwife is there for the one women, not rushing ragged between a few rooms, trying to give optimal care and support to many. The midwife and the family have built up a relationship throughout the pregnancy, which gives them a better chance of picking up problems should they occur. Most homebirthers are well researched and informed with their decisions, they understand that birth is safe most of the time, and are willing to take full responsibility for their choices. If during the pregnancy or labour a medical problem presents, then of course you go to the hospital and seek medical advice.

Once again, I understand that homebirth is not a choice that a lot of people want for them self. However, if we start taking choice away from women in regards to birth, what else can be taken? Do we really want to go back to the days of being dropped of at the front door of the hospital by our husbands, shunted up to the "delivery" ward, strapped to a bed until the Dr comes into to declare it's time to push?

Birth should be an empowering time of our life, whichever way the baby comes out. If you want your experience to be with an elective C/s, and you have been given all the information in order to make an informed decision, that's fantastic. It's your choice, and It's great that you have the option. Then why does the family that choose homebirth not afford the same choice? They should also be able to assess their situation and make an informed decision as to where to birth their baby. Isn't it shocking that one could be made illegal! Wrong for so many reasons.

I am writing to my local MP about this, it's something that I feel strongly about. My dream is to one day become a midwife and after getting experience I want to become an Independant Midwife. This dream could very well be shattered. I also will be homebirthing my next baby, and I wasn't planning on getting in before the July 2010 deadline, so I hope that this whole issue can be resolved.

I know that homebirth will never stop happening, but if it is made illegal it will happen without proper care. Those that do not want to birth under strict guidlines of hospitals, will only have a choice to freebirth and they will. I'm not sure how I personally feel about an intentional freebirth, I like the attention and care of a qualified midwife.

Anyway, enough ranting and time for action:

Here's a petition to sign:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/australianhomebirth/

And of course a Facebook group to join:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=55667514020