The death of a twin baby boy who died during a homebirth in Adelaide last week is being investigated by SA police.
It comes four years after the state’s deputy coroner recommended widespread changes for homebirths, after an inquest found the deaths of three babies could have been prevented if they had been born in a hospital.
Australian Medical Association president Janice Fletcher said while she could not comment on last week’s case specifically, the State Government guidelines recommend against multiple births at home.
“Pregnancy is a natural process, but it’s risky, and that’s the reason why SA Health put together a policy for planned births at home in South Australia,” she said.
“The key features are that a woman should have … no medical problems, a singleton, so that’s one baby, not twins or triplets or quadruplets.
“And the pregnancy [should be] between 37 weeks and 42 weeks, because we know that earlier pregnancies and later pregnancies have higher risks of complications.
“So the intention is that if you meet those inclusion criteria, that you be assessed by a registered practitioner — and that’s either a registered midwife or a registered medical practitioner — to discuss the options.”
Dr Fletcher said a registered midwife should always assess each case.
“There’s a tension or a fine line between the desire to have a birth naturally at home and the risk associated with specific pregnancy criteria,” she said.
“So it’s who has the overriding right I guess, to make decisions. People can choose different models of care that are not necessarily bound by such policies.”
South Australia’s guidelines for planned home births were reviewed in 2013.
It applies to registered practitioners who care for women planning a birth at home.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
My son was born with serious issues needed an immediate blood transfusion, which saved his life, despite a complication free pregnancy. My niece and nephew, who were twins, needed immediate attention after birth, including one needing life-saving surgery, despite a complication free pregnancy and my SIL having no dramas with her first (singleton) baby. Sure, hospital can be more clinical, but there's lots of them with birth centres, and rooms that look more like a day spa, so women can feel relaxed, while right next door to life-saving medical equipment should anything go wrong. I would have thought that the question of "Hoped for Home Birth with Increased Risk of Dead Baby -v- Undesirable Hospital Birth with Lowered Risk of Dead Baby" was a no-brainer. The "Birth" is the process that brings the child from life in the womb to life in the world. The birth is one single event in the whole life of your child and yourself - yet people are still willing to go for their ideal birth, when it might mean that you will never, ever have a life with your child at all.
Such breathtaking narcissism amongst some women. When did giving birth become all about the woman's experience, so much that it trumps the voiceless, helpless baby's chance at a safe entry into this world? There is no way that a home birth for twins is a safer option than hospital birth in this country. Sad and infuriating:(