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Care Opinion

Unaccepted due to low BMI

Posted By snowyc26

"Unaccepted due to low BMI"

About: King Edward Memorial Hospital / Community Midwifery Program

(as the patient),

I applied to CMP for my second pregnancy recently and got a response the next day stating that I wasn’t accepted into the program due to my BMI not meeting the criteria. The issue I have with this is that I birthed my firstborn through CMP a few years ago. My BMI was just above 18. I had a 0 complication pregnancy and a natural drug-free birth, also with 0 complications. I naturally have a slim build and I have a fast metabolism which doesn’t allow me to put on weight very easily but there is no issue with this and my doctor is not concerned. I am still breastfeeding my first child which can also contribute to my weight.

When I applied for CMP for this pregnancy, my BMI was slightly under my previous pregnancy BMI. My current pregnancy is low-risk I believe (as was my first) and I feel that this is extremely unfair and it’s discrimination towards slim people as I feel like I am being treated and labelled as an unhealthy woman - which I am not. In my opinion, this should not be the reason for missing out on a one-on-one personal experience with a midwife (which I am familiar with) and being forced to take an alternative route through a different system (which I am not familiar with).

I did not think that re-applying for a program I have previously been a part of where I had such an excellent experience with my midwife would become such a hassle the second time around. This has caused stress on my behalf and I am disgusted how the KEMH/CMP system accepts or rejects patients simply based on, I believe, their BMI. I feel this needs to be looked into because it’s simply not good enough.

And to add, I also responded to the email of rejection I received the next day and got no reply which I found disappointing and unprofessional! 

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Responses

Response from Jodi Graham, Executive Director, Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group 2 years ago
Jodi Graham
Executive Director,
Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group

Submitted on 8/10/2021 at 3:16 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 4:04 PM

picture of Jodi Graham

Dear snowyc26

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with the Women and Newborn Health Service (WNHS). I apologise for the long delay in responding to you.

I am sorry to read of the stress that was caused when you learned that you had not been accepted into the King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) Community Midwifery Program (CMP). I understand that this would be confusing to you, considering that you had a complication free and drug free birth with the CMP for your previous pregnancy.

As you know, the CMP is a model of care available to women experiencing a low risk pregnancy and birth. The CMP philosophy is to protect and support natural birth and to provide clients with evidence based, holistic care from known midwives throughout the continuum of pregnancy, labour, birth and the postnatal period.

To ensure that we can provide the safest care to our patients, there are strict eligibility criteria that women wishing to access the CMP model need to meet. As you were under the BMI requirement when you applied to the CMP for this pregnancy, it was determined by the clinical team that unfortunately, you did not meet the eligibility criteria for this model of care.

Having strict eligibility criteria in place is not to make any woman feel discriminated against, and I apologise that the process of applying to the CMP has made you feel this way. I would like to ensure you that the inclusion and exclusion criteria is in line with the Public Home Birth Program Policy, which sets out the mandatory requirements to ensure maternal and newborn services are safe, integrated, effective and responsive to the individual needs of women and their babies when birthing under the WA health system Public Home Birth Program.

I would also like to apologise that at the time of positing your feedback, you had not received a response to the email that you sent. I hope that you have received a response since then.

I understand that some time has now passed since you shared your story on the Care Opinion website, however, should you wish to speak about this matter further, I would encourage you to contact the WNHS Consumer Liaison Department on 6458 1444.

I wish you all the best for the future.

Kind regards,

Jodi Graham

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