Labor’s backflip on moving birthing services to Burnie is welcome, and long overdue.
By proposing that only post-natal services should be at the Mersey, Labor appears to have finally accepted the expert advice that birthing needed to be consolidated at Burnie, for safety reasons.
Now that Labor has confirmed they support our decision, I call on Labor now to cease their dishonest scare campaign by stoking the issue with select audiences.
Labor should acknowledge that the new service at Burnie offers many benefits to expectant mothers, including better access to specialised services such as paediatrics, an expansion of ante and post-natal care, greater levels of midwife-led outreach and home visits after the birth.
The popular Midwifery Group Practice model has been retained and will allow mothers-to-be to have a known midwifery team providing support before, during and after the birth of their child.
Improved access to child health services and better staffing is now resulting from the move of the Child Health and Parenting Service (CHaPS) from DHHS, back into the Tasmanian Health Service (THS).
The transfer reverses a decision by Labor, who in Government separated child health from other health services, which has made it more difficult to sustainably and effectively deliver the service.