Thirty supporters of maternity care choice staged a sit-in inside the Lismore office of local federal MP Janelle Saffin on November 9. They said the federal government must end plans to require independent midwives to have indemnity insurance.
They said the changes restrict women's choice in maternity care because private insurers and the government have ruled out providing midwifes with insurance for non-hospital births.
In response to these moves, a campaign in support of maternity care choice has sprung up, including a 3000-strong convergence on federal parliament on September 7.
The November 9 protest was part of a national day of action targeting government politicians.
Three hundred rallied outside Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's office in Brisbane and more than 200 gathered outside health minister Nicola Roxon's office in Sydney. Actions also took place outside the offices of education minister Julia Gillard in Melbourne and foreign minister Stephen Smith in Perth.
A government review is expected to introduce Medicare rebates for some midwifery services. However, amendments announced on November 5 will require midwives to make "collaborative arrangements" with medical practitioners to qualify for rebates. This development sparked the latest round of action.
Kath O'Driscoll, a Socialist Alliance member who organised the Lismore action with other activists in the Northern Rivers Maternity Action Group, told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly many other countries have homebirth as part of the public health system.
"In Holland, the option of a freely available homebirth is the choice of around one third of expecting mothers", she said. "A recent major study showed no differences in adverse outcomes between home and hospital births. Huge amounts of hospital resources are saved for people who are actually sick."
O'Driscoll said: the "campaign is an important part of the struggle for women's rights and for a health system that puts people before profit".