Petition to Allow Private Midwives to be Eligible for Professional Indemnity Insurance or to Be Exempt from Being Required to Enroll in PI

Independent midwives role in homebirths is to help create a safe environment to birth. Without this support women will be placed in a situation where some will choose to birth alone at home whilst others will choose to labour at home for most of their labour with plans to head to hospital at the last minute only to find they don't make it and end up birthing at home or in the car. Women will birth at home no matter what the government rules. I ask the politicians to consider the safety of mothers and babies and allow independent midwives to assist women birth at home.

Home births are an essential choice, and midwives essential support. I would not birth any other way and I have every trust in the care and competency of midwives. They should not be restricted in their practice or denied PI insurance. More people are relying on them and their specialized skills, and they should be given greater professional scope not less.

We need to support home births as much as we possibly can. Sometimes hospitals are needed, but most of the time they aren't. Hospital births have the tendency to be over medicalised and too quick and eager to intervene. It should be every family's right to have access to a qualified midwife to assist them with their home births. I so hope this petition is successful in maintaining access to safe home birthing.

I support midwives to get insurance and provide home births where it is deemed safe and appropriate. Women deserve choice.

It is very important that pregnant women have the option of giving birth at home with a suitably qualified midwife. There are many benefits of Homebirth including lower rates of intervention, a calm and private birth environment and lower costs.

I agree 100%.

not your body, not your call

Even though I birthed all my babies at hospital every women should be given the freedom to choose where they want to birth their babies adn without a caring midwife to help it will put mother and baby at risk.

To not allow women to safely birth at home if that is her choice is against every right a woman has.

It is every woman's right to be able to choose how she births her babies. This is a human rights issue.

The rest of the world realizes how important and natural this process is, atleast give people the option

Women have a right to care during homebirth. This is insane!

Women should have a right to birth where they feel safe and comfortable. Taking away home midwifery support would be an outrageous decision that would either force women to freebirth without expert support or, force them into a hospital system that they may not feel is best for their needs. Home birth have excellent outcomes compared to hospital, so what's the big deal about insurance?

its a woman's choice and right to give birth where and how she likes. My sister was a home birth.

My 3rd child was born at home with a midwife. It was the best experience of my entire life. Please allow other families to access this birth option.

All women have the right to birth in a safe calm place. For some women this is at home. Women have a right to choose and midwives need support to allow them to assist these women

Where's the HUMAN RIGHTS??? All women have a right to Choice!

This would be a disaster for birthing practise in Australia. Women deserve the basic human right to choose to birth at home and independent midwives need to be supported and insured so they can be at those births.

Very important

Birth Politics: Not allowing private midwives to get indemnity insurance is just a way to control where and how women give birth.