#ENDBIRTHRESTRICTIONS
COVID-19 has changed many things for all of us, but women right now are suffering at the hands of strict and unrelenting restrictions on their rights to have a support person present with them during their labour, birth and postpartum periods in hospital.
hospitals in the greater sydney region are restricting women’s access to a support person during birth. the information being given is inaccurate, inconsistent and uncompassionate.
Currently in many Sydney hospitals, women are birthing alone. Women who have suffered previous losses, birth trauma and infertility, women who are scared, stressed and anxious about not having anyone by their side at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives.
It is a World Health Organisation recommendation that all women have a chosen companion with them during their labour, birth and postpartum period. Studies show that having a support person with them during these times has multiple benefits; a higher rate of spontaneous vaginal births, a lower rate of caesarean section births, a lower rate of postpartum depression after birth…. and many more benefits.
We are petitioning to the Minister for Health and Medical Research, The Hon. Brad Hazzard MP to make changes to the current restrictions that are in place across Sydney hospitals and we would love your help!
Step 1:
Please copy and paste the following enquiry template and send it to the Minister for Health by following THIS LINK to make a complaint to the Health Care Complaints Commission and ALSO HERE to send a message direct to the Health Minister himself.
To The Hon. Brad Hazzard, MP
I write to you today to request change to the the current restrictions on birthing people in NSW and specifically in Sydney during this current lockdown period and any future lockdowns we may see ourselves in.
It is a basic human right and a World Health Organisation recommendation that all women have the option to have a chosen companion and support person present with them during their labours, birth and postpartum periods whilst in hospital.
Right now, across Sydney, women are birthing alone. Many women are afraid to continue with their plans to birth in hospital, women are showing up to hospital in labour only to have their partners, husbands and support people turned away, women are reporting to hospitals with abnormal bleeding in pregnancy are sitting in rooms alone while their partners and support people are refused entry, women are afraid to fall pregnant at this time due to the restrictions hospitals are placing on labouring women throughout Sydney.
The restrictions that are currently in place are inconsistent across hospitals throughout Sydney and are damaging women. Women are stressed, anxious, worried and fearful about what may happen if they have to go in to birth their babies with no support people. It is no secret that our hospital system is failing women already, the system is hard to navigate under normal circumstances, now it is nearly impossible.
Women aren’t being informed of their options, they are not being told about the restrictions until they show up in labour or to their scheduled appointments. Women who have older children are being told that they can not bring their children in for their appointments, when our region is in lockdown and with it being school holidays this is a logistical nightmare for most women and is not supporting them on their pregnancy and birth journeys.
The World Health Organisation recommends that all women have a right to continued support during labour and childbirth. They recommend effective communication between maternity care providers and women in labour, but the inconsistent advice being delivered across the Sydney region is undermining this recommendation.
The World Health Organisation recommends a companion of choice for all women throughout labour and childbirth. Yet many hospitals in the Sydney region are not allowing partners at all, or only allowing them for the ‘birth’ and not the full labour. Research shows that companionship during labour and childbirth reduces instrumental vaginal birth, reduces the instance of postpartum depression, reduces the length of labour and increases the incidence of spontaneous vaginal birth, having a companion during labour and birth reduces the incidence of caesarean section by 25% and the use of pain relief by 10%.
As a concerned member of society I am requesting the following:
That all women attending hospital for regular antenatal appointments be permitted to have their children and one chosen support person with them at all times. This will reduce the logistical burden on mother’s during times where they are in lockdown and have no options for childcare/support.
That all women are permitted to have, at minimum, one chosen support person (partner or otherwise) with them throughout their entire labour and birth whilst in hospital with no need to apply for an exemption.
That all women birthing in hospital are permitted to have one chosen support person with them for a minimum of five hours a day after they have given birth. Remove the restrictions placed on ‘support people’ for women in the postpartum wards. This would ensure all women who have given birth are adequately supported in their postpartum period and would also reduce the burden on staff.
That all women are informed of the restrictions before attending the hospital for their appointments/to give birth.
That a blanket guideline be put in place for all hospitals in the Sydney region to follow the above requests. No more inconsistent advice and incorrect information being handed out.
Please hear our calls. Please effect positive change in this domain. Please put women first.
Thank you for hearing my concerns, I look forward to hearing back from your team on this.
Regards,
Step 2:
Please sign and share our petition HERE