Homebirth – Czech mothers sue state and was unsucessful

Home birth at the best of times can be a contentious issue however in some parts of the world home birth is outlawed. When I was in Prague last year, the Czech midwives were rallying to gain support to challenge the government on its blanket ban on home birth. Midwives in Prague can be heavily fined if they attend a home birth – it did make me think how lucky we are in Australia to have home birth for low risk women an accepted practice despite the opposition from the AMA.

Two mothers Dubska and Krejzova could not find a midwife who would agree to conduct a home birth  because the Czech Republic prevents midwives from assisting in home births. These two women challenged this law by going to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) CASE OF DUBSKÁ AND KREJZOVÁ v. THE CZECH REPUBLIC 

The applicants alleged violation of article 8 of the convention  ‘the right to private life’ as the Czech law prohibited a health professional to assist with a home birth. the women lost the case – the outcome was 6 votes to 1 that there is no breach of article 8.

As it seemed there was an element of attempting to criminalize midwifery in some central and eastern European countries particular in Hungary – A joint statement  from the President of the International Confederation of Midwives and the President of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics issues a joint statement on 6 March 2012 in which they declared: “there is strong evidence that a birth out of a hospital supported by a registered midwife is safe, and a preferred experience for many mothers. Women should not be denied this choice because of the lack of an adequate regulatory framework that makes it possible for midwives to practise their profession in any place that women choose to give birth“.

The case has been referred to ECHR Grand Chamber – wait and see: It seems to be one of the major issues for home birth is the requirement for insurance –  not only is insurance costly it is difficult to obtain.

Once again Paternalism reigns !!

The aim of this blog

The aim of this blog is to highlight and comment on current news items that are health related particularly legal issues; The stories I gravitate to are dealing with health professionals – Nurses, Midwives, Doctors etc and the legal implications of their acts or their failure to act – Negligence.
I usually follow the story to its completion and will cite the case if it goes to court – they often make for good reading and are excellent cases to learn from – so what not to do in the future.

I often post on my Facebook page interesting health related articles and wait for comment from my friends – so I thought this would be a better way of chronicling  the articles I post – also they are all in one place in some sort of order and the commentary can be more precise.

Please feel free to drop by and have a read and leave a comment.