HSC challenged by home birthing campaigners

Health & Social Care announced earlier this month that it would not be restarting midwife-supported home births, as it was a strain on resources. Instead those resources would be focused on the hospital.

Home births were formally suspended due to Covid-19 in June 2021, but none have actually been carried out since March 2020 due to the pandemic.

Outside the States chamber yesterday, campaigners challenged HSC committee members over the change in policy.

Among them was Kirsten Hieghton-Jackson, who is pregnant.

She was worried that not offering midwife support would result in mothers set on a home birth being put at risk.

‘We are basically here to protect mothers and children, who don’t want to birth in the hospital,’ she said.

‘The thing about hospital is, when you enter, even just the journey to the hospital, disrupts your natural labour.

‘Like, if you have a cat having kittens you wouldn’t disrupt them – you would just let them go in their cupboard and have their kittens.

'And when you transfer a mother, the labour can get delayed.

‘And so some mothers would rather birth at home where they feel most comfortable.’

HSC argued there was limited demand for home births locally, with just 15 in the last five years.

But Ms Hieghton-Jackson challenged those figures.

‘That stat is not correct because two of those years don’t count because home births [service] was cancelled,’ she said.

‘I currently know 14 mothers who want to have a home birth.' She said during the lockdown in Jersey, it promoted home births and in 2021 recorded 38 deliveries at home.

‘[That’s] because mums see the advantage.

‘They feel safe at home and they’re going to stay away from Covid and the Covid protocol.’

She sent out a survey to the birthing community and got 66 replies.

‘Of those 66, 64 were positive of saying we want home births,’ she said.

‘30 of them were denied home birth since the pandemic and 14 of those 30 are still pregnant right now and they wanted a home birth.’

She noted that her survey had shown there was big support for home births, which was not reflected in HSC’s figures.

‘And my survey only reached a few mums,’ she said.

‘The fact that there are 14 pregnant mums on the island that want a home birth, that’s probably just a percentage of how many mums would actually like the option of having a home birth.’

She said that some midwives really wanted home births to continue.

‘But I think that’s not enough to make a change. We need more people to care.’