Low-risk pregnant women could be giving birth in Cloncurry if the state government acts on a review process underway at the local hospital.
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North West Hospital and Health Service is conducting a Rural and Remote Maternity Services Planning Framework to determine if a Cloncurry birthing service will be sustainable and safe.
They are partnering with expectant mothers, clinicians and community members to assess maternity services in Cloncurry and develop a plan to redesign the services to better meet their needs.
A Queensland Health spokesperson said factors they would assess included demand, risks and benefits, and staffing and resourcing requirements.
"North West HHS is one of the first services to pilot the new planning framework," the spokesperson said.
"The pilot program is being overseen by the Rural Maternity Implementation Oversight Committee, co-chaired by NWHHS chief executive Lisa Davies Jones and Associate Professor Rebecca Kimble, Chair of the Maternity and Neonatal Clinical Network."
The committee expects to provide the review outcomes to the state government in early 2020 and if proposes redesign of the maternity services in Cloncurry, Queensland Health will develop a business case.
If a birthing service in Cloncurry is feasible, women with low-risk pregnancies in the region could have their babies closer to their homes, families and support networks. Women with higher-risk pregnancies would still travel to larger hospitals in Mount Isa or Townsville.
Cloncurry Shire Council Mayor Greg Campbell said a maternity service in Cloncurry would benefit the town and wider community greatly.
"When the pregnancy is deemed low-risk, having a local service could prevent a number of factors including travelling in the later stages of pregnancy, isolation from family, roadside births, financial strain and more," Cr Campbell said.
"At the moment expectant mums are required to be in Mount Isa or Townsville four weeks before the due date which can become an issue with other children in school and needing further accommodation."
Cr Campbell said reinstating this service to the Cloncurry Hospital would add to the great team of local health professionals.
"We have some awesome midwives here in town already and we know births at Cloncurry Hospital have been done successfully before," he said.
"In an emergency or when the babies come quickly, babies are still born at Cloncurry Hospital.
"Reinstating the maternity services here wouldn't affect me personally, but our family would have loved the opportunity to have our children born locally."
The Queensland Health spokesperson said Queensland was one of the safest places in the world to give birth, no matter where you live.
"There has been strong interest in establishing a low-risk birthing service in Cloncurry from the community, clinicians and hospital executives for several years," the spokesperson said.
Consideration of a service in Cloncurry is among a raft of initiatives to emerge from work done by the Rural Maternity Taskforce.
Other measures to improve maternity services include:
- piloting the planning framework in three other rural locations
- planning to reinstate a low-risk birthing service in Weipa Hospital to accommodate up to 60 births a year from women in the Western Cape region
- mandating a requirement that a HHS seek approval from the Minister for Health to reduce health services
- investment of $500,000 to establish a trial to enable midwives and physicians at rural hospitals to rotate through larger hospitals for training purposes and
- HHS and Department of Health to begin planning for the re-establishment of key maternity services in rural communities.
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Samantha Campbell
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
