Funding home birth support will free up more money

I now know of 15 currently pregnant mothers on Guernsey in need of home birth support and this is not an exhaustive list—these are mothers who completed my online survey which was shared with pregnant mothers by a local doula.

We have been told by HSC that the resource for home birth support is not here, as if this is a satisfactory explanation. Why is it then that the 15 pregnant mothers who currently want home birth support are entitled to request planned c-sections which cost taxpayers £8,500 each (£127,500 for all of us) or depending on post-op care and hospital stay may cost £10,000 each (£150,000 for all of us). By comparison a home birth costs taxpayers a pittance.

A team of two dedicated home birth midwives could easily cover all the home births on the island. These two midwives would be on-call instead of covering demanding hospital shifts. This is the traditional model of care of midwifery— to be on-call for births—this is not an outlandish expectation that midwives be on call as HSC has made it sound.

A second team of two (even part-timers) could fill in for vacation or illness.

Due to the local housing crisis, I suggest recruiting young locals to be trained as dedicated home birth midwives.

I have been informed that there are two young people heading to Bournemouth for training in September of 2023, however there is no plan to have these recruits hired as dedicated home birth midwives; presumably they would be added to the demanding hospital shift schedule.

As you will be aware, there are no private midwives on Guernsey and midwives from the UK who are hired by a local mother for support may not have insurance coverage to work here.

Doula support is limited on the island and current demand for doula support is high, so mothers are being turned away.

Based on our previous correspondence, there is some misconception among some of you about what a doula is. A doula is not a replacement for a midwife who is trained medically, who will bring medical supplies to the birth.

A doula provides emotional support and physical support such as counter pressure for back-labour or helping mothers get off their backs and into better birthing positions.

Whilst a doula can improve the mother’s labour with her techniques, she is not there to stitch the mother up etc.

Home births are important to many mothers because the rate of unnecessary medical intervention is much lower—each of those interventions can stall the natural process of labour, leading to further interventions.

Based on comments I’ve received, there is a misconception within the local community about the safety of home birth but statistically mothers and babies are as safe at home as they are in hospital.

There is also an unfortunate attitude within the community that a mother who wants home birth support is selfish. I would repeat my initial question—why am I entitled to an expensive taxpayer funded planned c-section but not a simple natural birth at home that costs a pittance by comparison?

Funding home birth support will free up more funds in the long run for other important projects.

KIRSTEN HIEGHTON-JACKSON