The ACT Government has revealed it is considering publicly funding home births for pregnant mothers to ease the demand on the maternity hospital.
The Centenary Hospital for Women and Children at Woden in Canberra’s south has been operating at close to capacity since it opened in 2012.
Earlier this week it was revealed ACT Health was considering a plan to refer expectant mothers to a hospital linked to their postcode.
The Centenary Hospital has been popular with pregnant women from across the city, including those who living closer to the Calvary Hospital at Belconnen in Canberra’s north.
If the changes were to go ahead, pregnant women would be unable to choose their preferred hospital to give birth.
ACT Health director-general Dr Peggy Brown has revealed options other than the zoning plan were being considered to ease the demand at the site.
“Publicly funded home births are also being looked at,” she told 666 ABC Canberra.
“So that’s another option that some women may wish to pursue.”
Midwifery Assistant Professor Sally Ferguson from the University of Canberra has welcomed the possibility of publicly funded home births.
“If women were to know how birth at home increases their option, or their ability, to have a straightforward birthing experience, then women would demand it,” she told 666 ABC Canberra.
“When it becomes a choice, hopefully in the middle of this year, women will take it up.”
Last year the Publicly Funded Birth At Home ACT group also called for women to be given the option of staying at home.
Dr Brown said a decision on the postcode system for hospital births was not likely to be made before the end of March.