"Community Midwives Programs"

We have already provided detailed feedback, via email, in regards to the staff of the Community Midwife Program (CMP) and staff at King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) for Women. This feedback provided details of how we were thoroughly satisfied by the care provided by both services. There were some issues surrounding the attitude and demeanour of some of the midwives/doctors at KEMH who were initially present when we transferred, however this has been adequately addressed in the aforementioned feedback.

We would however, like to provide specific feedback in relation to the inability of CMP (Community Midwives Program) to provide continuity of care to women who reside in the St John of God (STJOG) Midland catchment area. We currently reside in this catchment area and sought to have a home birth at the Kalamunda birthing rooms. Prior to the birth, we were confronted by the possibility that if required to transfer to STJOG Midland, that we would no longer be provided care by our CMP Midwife. CMP Midwives are permitted to enter STJOG Midland as a support person, but are unable to provide any midwifery care. This, frankly, in my opinion is an insult to the professionalism and skills of the very knowledgeable Midwives of the CMP. If the problem relates to a perceived issue of a non-STJOG employee  practicing in the hospital, this seems a very minor and clearly surmountable obstacle.

One of the pivotal reasons for seeking inclusion on the CMP is a strong desire to form a relationship with the Midwives who will be present during the birth, a relationship based on trust and understanding of the agreed birthing plan. When faced with the necessity of transferring from Kalamunda, we refused to attend STJOG Midland as we knew we would lose the ability to have our CMP Midwife provide this desired continuity of care. Consequently, we transferred to KEMH. It is very important to note that at no time was there any foetal distress and the transfer was only deemed necessary due to a prolonged second stage. If absolutely required, we would have reluctantly transferred to STJOG Midland as we would have never sought to risk the health of our child or the mother's well-being.

Returning to the issue at hand, the inability of CMP Midwives to practice at STJOG Midland, it is our understanding that CMP Midwives are permitted to practice in numerous public hospitals within the metropolitan area on the transfer of their women to these facilities, for example Fiona Stanley Hospital. It seems completely unacceptable that by virtue of our postcode, that we were precluded from safely transferring to a publicly funded hospital located only 12 kilometres away (and being permitted to continue in the care of the CMP), and instead were transferred to KEMH which is over 30 kilometres away. We recognise that we chose to be transferred to KEMH but equally we completely resent that we were forced to make that decision in recognition that STJOG Midland would not have allowed us to remain in the care of the CMP Midwife.

According to the STJOG website (press release dated July 2012), the State and Commonwealth Governments invested $360 million into the construction of the 307-bed public hospital in Midland. It is firmly our view, one shared by many people in the community who we have spoken to in regards to our situation, that if St John of God undertakes to bid, and gain government contracts for the provision of health services, thereby accepting public funding for its facilities, that it must be properly regulated by the state health department and required to adhere to basic standards as to the provision of services uniformly to all persons, regardless of their catchment area. This should obviously include the capacity of CMP Midwives, who are WA Health employees, to practice in its facilities. It seems ridiculous, and severely unjust, that if we resided a few kilometres to the South, that we would not have been placed in the position of refusing to transfer to STJOG Midland and would have been capable of instead transferring to Fiona Stanley Hospital. I believe this issue must be raised within the WA Health Department and adequately addressed.

We request that we are appraised of the outcome of this feedback.