Australian Government announces professional indemnity insurance for midwives
Posted on May 5, 2010 by by valerirojas
Today, as part of the International Midwives Day, the Australian Government has signed the contract to provide the first ever Commonwealth-supported professional indemnity insurance for midwives, which is part of the $120 million package of maternity reform measures the Government announced in the last Budget to improve choice and support for Australian mothers.
Privately practising midwives will be able to purchase their own insurance, and be covered from 1 July 2010.
This is the first time since 2002 that midwives can purchase professional indemnity insurance.
This insurance arrangement will help midwives who wish to provide high quality midwifery services to Australian women as part of a collaborative team with doctors and other health professionals.
The Commonwealth-supported insurance will not cover services provided during home births.
The insurance will be provided by Medical Insurance Group Australia who were selected via a tender process and has been providing insurance to doctors and other health care professionals in Australia for many years.
For more information visit Health.gov.au
3 Comments to “Australian Government announces professional indemnity insurance for midwives”
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I feel very angry about this right now. Not providing insurance for the actual birth at home – just for ante-natal and postnatal visits – means that private midwives still won’t be able to provide the core service that most women engage them to provide. It means that women who want to give birth at home, as many thousands of women in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and other developed countries safely do each year, will still not be able to legally engage a qualified, registered midwife to attend. Getting insurance coverage for the birth will mean that homebirth midwifery is more accountable to their registration body, and doesn’t become an underground movement on the fringes of healthcare.
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I agree with you emd, I wonder why they don’t cover it? seems silly.
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This is just ridiculous! If a midwife is practising as part of a team, she doesnt NEED personal indemnity insurance! What a joke.
I feel so lucky that I was one of the lucky people who was able to have my youngest child at home.
And it makes me so angry that women are now being denied this safe alternative!
It’s archaic. Shame on you Australia, get with the modern world!
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