Birth centre calls in vain for midwives

THERE are fears unsafe home births will become more common after the closure of a northern birthing centre set up to offer women a safe alternative to hospital.

The Launceston Birth Centre has announced it will close its doors after 35 years after a prolonged struggle to secure a permanent registered midwife.

Anna Holloway, who helped mothers give birth through the centre until her retirement, said she believed the number of women wanting natural births was increasing.

However, the centre has found it increasingly difficult to recruit a midwife.

Margaret Dingemanse, a Launceston General Hospital midwife who has volunteered at the birth centre, said in- surance and training requirements for those wanting to practice privately in home births were prohibitive.

“I’d have to go back to uni, basically, and I’m not really interested [in further study] because I’m busy with my own family,” she said.

Launceston Birth Centre treasurer Sarah Haberle, who gave birth to her three children at the centre, said choice was important for women with some travelling from as far as the Southern Midlands and interstate to give birth there.

Ms Dingemanse said she was confident a birth centre could one day re-open once midwife numbers increased.

Ms Holloway said she had been helping women with about 35 births a year until her retirement three years ago.

“A lot of people just want to be at home; they just want to be comfortable,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of women say after giving birth, ‘I don’t know how anyone does it in a hospital’.”

Jean Vasic, who was involved with the Launceston centre at its inception, said it was set up to address concerns about unsafe home births.

Birthing centres cater for women with low-risk pregnancies and are considered more home-like than hospitals.

The Launceston centre, located next to LGH, had a focus on natural births.

Ms Vasic said a similar service could save the State Government a lot of money.

“We were the first independent birth centre in Australia and we got calls from all over Australia wanting to know how we started and why.”

LGH declined to comment.