Local group ‘Support Birthing at Castlemaine Health’ garnered more than 1000 signatures in 72 hours calling for birthing services to be reinstated at the hospital during the current review.
Castlemaine Health announced on May 16 that it had temporarily paused birthing services to review its policies, procedures and processes to ensure they aligned with the requirements of a low-risk Level 2 birthing service.
In a statement the hospital said it would be working with its midwives and local GP obstetricians, Bendigo Health and Safer Care Victoria to complete the review, which is expected to take about six weeks.
The announcement drew an outcry from the local community concerned about the future of the service and calls for the Castlemaine service to be reinstated while the review takes place.
Facebook group ‘Support Birthing at Castlemaine Health’ was quickly formed to lead the push for services to resume.
Group spokesperson Arabella Davison said the Kyneton Health Service lost its maternity services in late 2019 and the local community did not want to see its hospital suffer the same fate.
“The decision to pause the service puts these low-risk women at risk by removing access to their closest service and forcing them to travel to Bendigo,” Ms Davison said.
“It doesn’t make sense to suspend what is an above-average service while undertaking this review,” she said.
Ms Davison stressed there had been no critical incident to trigger the review.
“Reviews like this take place all the time in hospitals and healthcare settings, in schools and workplaces. There is absolutely no need for the service to be suspended while this takes place,” Ms Davison said.
“There is a huge amount of support for this service. We have collected 1026 signatures in just 72 hours.
“The petition includes the support of 20 health professionals, 19 families planning to birth at Castlemaine and 150 women who have given birth there and have praised the service,” she said.
Daylesford couple Bronwyn and Jarred were set to birth at Castlemaine and are now faced with rethinking their plans.
Bronwyn said being pregnant during COVID-19 had been stressful enough without this latest hurdle.
“I’ve had to compromise by not having my mum with me as you are only allowed one support person and naturally that will be Jarred, and now I can’t birth at the hospital of my choice,” Bronwyn said.
“We urge the hospital, Health Minister and Safer Care Victoria to reinstate the services as soon as possible,” Ms Davison said.
Castlemaine Health CEO Ian Fisher thanked the community for their outpouring of support for the service and assured the community it would return.
“We understand the importance of retaining our local birthing service. There are no plans to close it,” Mr Fisher said.
Local GP obstetricians Dr Louisa Hope, Dr Veronica Moule, Dr Richard Mayes and Dr Frances Harkin provided detailed summaries of birthing statistics at Castlemaine Health over the last three years to Safer Care Victoria, the Minister for Health and the Castlemaine Health Board ahead of crucial meetings regarding the issue scheduled for yesterday.
“We find it unacceptable that pregnant women be transferred to care elsewhere at incredibly short notice so close to their time of birthing. The impact is devastating, and we are supporting women through that. Review of our statistics demonstrate we provide a safe service and we see no good reason why these women should be excluded from birthing in their place of choice…the place that feels right for them,” – Drs Hope, Moule, Mayes and Harkin said.
