Doulas, or unregistered birth workers, should face fines and/or criminal charges for performing clinical services during childbirth, peak medical bodies say.
The obstetric and midwifery groups have demanded federal, state and territory governments follow in South Australia’s footsteps and ban doulas from a range of activities after recent tragedies during so-called freebirths, where registered health professionals are absent.
Stacey Hatfield, also known as Stacey Warnecke, died after giving birth at her home.Credit: Instagram, NaturalSpoonfuls
South Australia’s Health Practitioner Regulation Law outlaws doulas from performing 19 clinical actions, and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG), and the Australian College of Midwives is demanding the law be adopted by all Australian jurisdictions.
The two bodies wrote to health ministers on Monday morning after “a spate of recent deaths”.
The latest death was of that Melbourne nutrition influencer Stacey Hatfield (also known as Stacey Warnecke), who was rushed to hospital in September over a serious postpartum haemorrhage she suffered after a freebirth. Hatfield’s son survived.
The two medical bodies are calling on health ministers to introduce and pass legislation that expressly restricts labour and birth management, including the three stages of labour, to appropriately trained and registered practitioners.
They want unlicensed or unregulated workers – sometimes known as birth keepers – prohibited from any labour management outside what is specified in legislation, and want regulatory frameworks to be harmonised to protect all Australian women.
In South Australia, birth workers who perform restricted birthing practices can be fined up to $30,000 or jailed for up to 12 months.
Dr Nisha Khot, the RANZCOG president, said new national laws would help to reduce harm from freebirths attended by unqualified workers.
Some doulas or birth workers have been alleged to have acted beyond their scope as providers of emotional and physical comfort to the birthing woman.
“We have reduced maternal mortality over the last so many years because we have provided women with the care that keeps them safe, and freebirth is just going backwards on all the things we have put in place to make sure mothers and babies are safe,” Khot said.
“[Both bodies] feel freebirth is a really dangerous situation.”
Dr Zoe Bradfield, the president of the College of Midwives, said her organisation respects women’s right to autonomy in birth, but “harmonising national legislation as proposed will ensure all women can have confidence in the transparency, safety and accountability of care during birth, in the same way, all across Australia”.
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