Changes to Medicare which allow expectant parents to claim some independent midwife services have been welcomed by local couple Bonnie Palm and David Johnstone.
Almost six weeks ago Ms Palm gave birth to a beautiful little daughter Coco at home with the assistance of independent midwife Hazel Keedle.
Ms Palm said it was an absolutely amazing experience and one she could not imagine doing any differently.
The Medicare reforms introduced last November mean that she and Mr Johnstone got about a third of Ms Keedle’s fee reimbursed and when you are looking at an approximate total cost of $4000 that’s a big help to young people starting a family.
Ms Keedle explained that Medicare now covers ante-natal and post-natal services through a private midwife, however, the cost of the labour and birth itself are not covered.
Only about 30 midwives in Australia have a Medicare provider number and they must meet national guidelines.
The changes also mean that as a practitioner Ms Keedle can order any necessary bloodwork and scans, which makes the process more cohesive. She said the introduction of Medicare coverage is part of the Federal Government’s maternity reforms.
Ms Keedle started her career as a nurse in England in 1999. She has been a midwife for five years.
“My grandmother back in England was a midwife and I grew up seeing the relationship she had with the community,” she said.
“That’s something that’s missing in the hospital system where we see people for such a short time. Now I get to build relationships and trust at such an amazing time in their lives – when they become new parents.”
Ms Keedle is based in Black-heath but also works in the Bath-urst, Oberon and Lithgow areas.
Ms Palm said giving birth was an amazing experience.
“To have that experience in the comfort of our own home changed the whole process,” she said. “I never thought I’d have kids and I didn’t think I had a choice.
“For the first part of my pregnancy I thought it was a hospital birth or nothing, especially living in Bathurst.
“It was our luck that we came across Hazel. We were so pleased to meet her five months into the pregnancy. Everything just fell into place.”
She said Ms Keedle has also been there to help with the transition to parenthood.
Ms Palm said two of her family members had home births and some had experienced hospital births, which allowed her to make an informed decision.
She said the hardest thing about the whole process was dealing with people’s misconceptions about the safety of home births.
“Hopefully my experience will start to change some people’s attitudes,” she said.
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