Page 988 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 1990
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I think homebirth is a wonderful thing, and I feel that if women are well enough to be able to experience that they should be able to have the option of the style of birth they want to participate in. This Government is committed to providing those options so that women can have their option as to what they want to do. I personally am committed to making sure that there are options available for women.
With regard to the bed situation, as the Minister has said, there are 122 obstetric beds in the ACT at the moment and none of them are private. I really do not know what your worry is because this Government will be ensuring that those beds continue and that there is not a decrease in the beds available. This Government is committed to providing a range of facilities and services for women, not just in the obstetric area but right through the process - antenatal, birth and postnatal.
MRS GRASSBY (11.18): I rise to support Mr Berry in what he had to say. I support the fact that a birthing centre is very important, but, as Mr Berry said in his speech, a birthing centre without auxiliary services will not be a success. I get the feeling that the Government would not be unhappy if it was not a success. They could then put it into a private hospital for their friends in the AMA. Any woman who has had a baby in a birthing centre - and this seems to be the way the Western world is going - would know that it needs to be within or annexed to a public hospital. Then it would be accessible to all women in the ACT, not only the rich, which putting it into a private hospital would do, but the poor as well.
Mr Duby: There is no suggestion of putting a birthing centre in a private hospital. What are you talking about?
MRS GRASSBY: This Government would not know about this. In the case of a first baby, all care has to be taken, very much so because this is the time when complications can easily occur. I am sure we all know of cases where homebirths have gone wrong, where not only maybe has the baby been lost in a quick dash to a hospital, but sometimes the mother, and on some occasions, both. Mr Humphries said that Mr Berry got it wrong. It was Mr Humphries who got it wrong. There are private beds in public hospitals; however, there are no public beds in private hospitals. I repeat that there are private beds in public hospitals, but no public beds in private hospitals.
Not long ago outside this house Mr Humphries told the voters that he was going to keep the Royal Canberra Hospital. This was his great speech to the people. I remember running into a doctor at election time who was working for the Liberals. He told me he was working for them because Gary Humphries had told him they were going to keep Royal Canberra Hospital. This was the story that Mr Humphries peddled around; but he is back-pedalling very quickly now, and the people in the ACT know this. He is
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