Together we can Make a Difference with Katherine Eden

About this episode

Katherine Eden discusses the impact of proposed birth legislation on women's choices and maternity care in Australia.

A continuation of our series on the proposed ACM/RANZCOG legislation that will require that only trained registered professionals can "manage" the process of birth. https://ranzcog.edu.au/news/ranzcog-acm-call-on-health-ministers-to-end-freebirth-deaths This time Sally speaks with Katherine Eden, doula, birth advocate and mother of two boys based in South Australia. Eight years ago when birthing her second son, Katherine found herself freebirthing even though she wanted midwifery care, due to the climate of fear and retribution in Adelaide at the time, in large part due to this legislation and the attitudes surrounding it. She also asks whether women's choices would be better enabled through properly supporting private midwifery over the more restrictive, but Medicare funded homebirth services that run from public hospitals. After trying to sound the alarm years ago to the rest of the country with this blog article , we are now finally all ears. Katherine's key message: when we work together we can achieve real improvements in maternity care. (Birth intervention rates dropped during 2009-2010, a time of mass organisation across the country for improvements in birth, culminating…

People in this episode

Host: Sally

Guest: Katherine Eden

Topics covered

• maternity care
• birth legislation
• midwifery
• freebirth
• women's choices
• birth advocacy

Keywords

• birth
• midwifery care
• freebirth
• maternity
• legislation
• advocacy
• South Australia
• birth intervention

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ACM/RANZCOG, RANZCOG

Books & works: blog article

Places: South Australia, Adelaide

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