Hospital birthing in turmoil

WOMEN giving birth in the public system are being discharged early and billed for ultrasounds that used to be free as maternity services buckle under pressure.

Privately insured mums are shunning private births because they can’t afford the $4000-$13,000 out-of-pocket fees charged by obstetricians.

This means public hospitals have been swamped by an extra 27,000 births a year.

News Corp has found this has led to serious overcrowding and mums have complained public maternity wards are so understaffed nurses don’t answer buzzers and breast feeding help is not available.

Women are also being forced to pay $200 for the two previously free ultrasounds needed to check on their baby’s development.

Some mums are also being discharged within hours of the birth, others just 24 hours after a caesarean.

New mums don’t fault the quality of their medical treatment but say nurses and midwives are too stretched to be able to provide personal care.

At the same time, obstetricians are warning the private maternity system is in crisis, the Medicare rebate for a birth has not been increased for six years and they fear their incomes are under threat as a series of private hospitals shut their maternity wards.

They have held crisis meetings with health funds, private hospitals and the state’s chief medical officer this year without reaching a solution.

Maternity Consumer Network director Alecia Staines said mums are also avoiding private hospitals because they are associated with higher rates of caesareans and because they want to access “midwifery group practice” in the public system.