THE BYRON SHIRE
GUIDE INSIDE...
Contents
Volume 24 #05 Tuesday, July 7, 2009 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 21,000 copies every week
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MPs raise concerns over whooping cough epidemic
Call for better birthing options
Member for Ballina Don Page and Member for Lismore Thomas George have engaged in a campaign to increase people’s awareness of the current whooping cough epidemic and the importance of being immunised. Mr Page and Mr George are encouraging all parents to vaccinate their children (after two months of age) and adults to get a booster. Mr Page recently raised this issue in the NSW Parliament, highlighting the whooping cough epidemic on the north coast of NSW. This follows the tragic death of Dana McCaffery, at four weeks of age from Pertussis (Whooping Cough). Mr Page said until Dana McCaffery’s death hardly anyone knew about the epidemic. ‘More than 7,200 cases of whooping cough have been reported in NSW in 2009, and we are only halfway through the year,’ he said. ‘Children and teenagers from newborns up to 19 years of age are the most vulnerable.
Low vaccination rate ‘The Northern Rivers has one of the lowest vaccination rates in NSW and the Department of Health should make adults aware that the whooping cough vaccinations they received as children will wane after ten to 12 years. ‘In 2008 on the north coast 37 people with whooping cough were admitted to hospital including 17 babies aged less than 12 months. I believe it is important that we as a community ensure we are vaccinated against preventable diseases such as Whooping Cough. Mr George said, ‘The death of Dana McCaffery, who as a tiny baby caught whooping cough from someone else, should make people more aware of the dangers of whooping cough, especially to young children who can’t be immunised until they are two months old.’
Some 250 locals last Saturday took to the street as part of the Maternity Coalition National Day of Action. Mothers, babies in strollers and ‘pregnant’ men marched down Jonson Street, Byron Bay, and took part in a celebratory gathering in Railway Park. Vicki-lee McAllister of the Northern Rivers Maternity Action Group (NRMAG) said, ‘We are proud to be a part of this national event that will bring important birthing issues to the attention of politicians and the wider community.’ Ms McAllister said insurance companies and the federal government are refusing to include homebirths in an upcoming indemnity scheme, so
midwives could be deregistered if they take part. ‘We’re very happy with the result that midwives will have access to Medicare and PBS and will have some subsidy of their professional indemnity insurance but the federal government has clearly stated that it will not support their professional indemnity insurance if they attend homebirths.’ Ms McAllister said women who would prefer to have their babies at home are being discriminated against and put at risk. ‘There’s a large number of women who are very committed to having their babies at home and we believe that a proportion of those women will birth at home without a midwife. We believe that the federal
government has a duty of care to provide a registered midwife to a woman if she chooses to homebirth so as to reduce the risk.’ Maternity Coalition’s national president Lisa Metcalfe said, ‘We are really pleased that Nicola Roxon is trying to engineer the biggest changes to maternity we’ve seen in a century. Providing midwives with access to Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will increase women’s choice and improve access to maternity care with a known midwife and is a significant achievement. ‘Maternity Coalition is very concerned though that many of the women who currently access this care will
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miss out with proposed government changes. If the National Registration of all health professionals continues as planned, it will effectively ban homebirth with a midwife. ‘While gains have been made for women and midwives we are taking a big step backward for a woman’s right to choose her place of birth. Maternity Coalition’s vision is for all Australian women to be able to choose where, how and with whom they birth,’ said Ms Metcalfe. See more at www.maternitycoalition.org.au. ■ A homebirth doctor’s comment,
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Women and children send a clear message to the federal government about the need for homebirth options. Photo Jeff ‘Pregnant Pause’ Dawson.