‘Conveyor-belt’ bubs outcry

CONVEYOR-BELT birthing has been slammed by the nation’s maternity consumer body, as latest data shows almost half of low-risk Australian women have their labour induced – up more than 30 per cent in 15 years.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare will today release new statistics that show a huge surge in labour intervention, sparking a call from the Maternity Consumer Network for the Government to fund making clinician outcome statistics publicly available.

The report reveals induced labours have grown by more than 30 per cent in the 13 years since 2004 among women categorised as “low risk”. The 2017 statistics show more women had their labour induced in the public system at 45 per cent. The rate was 40.8 per cent in the private system.

The rate of C-sections rose from 25 per cent in 2004 to 29.3 per cent in 2017. Instrumental vaginal births also increased.

Maternity Consumer Network’s Alecia Staines said: “This kind of conveyor treatment of women who are rushed out of labour wards is not acceptable.

“We have had a stagnant stillbirth rate for 20 years, so the ever-increasing rates of inductions are not saving babies, even though this is often the rhetoric women hear around reasons for induction.

“Why are we seeing such a massive rise in intervention; pregnant women are just the same today as they were in 2004? Healthy women and healthy babies are having unnecessary intervention, and clinicians really need to be reflecting on their practice.”

But National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists president Stephen Lane said the rise in induction numbers was due to patient demand, not conveyorbelt treatment.

“Women are taking control and doctors are responding to the demand,” Dr Lane said.

“Science now shows that it is beneficial for a woman to be induced at 39 weeks, and that is when women want their babies to arrive.”