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Speaker 1: Now, we've spoken quite a lot in recent weeks and

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Speaker 1: months about maternity services across the Northern Territory and well

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Speaker 1: a group of ladies who've been advocating after the private

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Speaker 1: maternity ward closure. They're set to whole a session for

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Speaker 1: women and families to go to and to speak about

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Speaker 1: their experiences and their concerns. Now joining us on the

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Speaker 1: line to tell us more is Tessa Sislowsky. Good morning

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Speaker 1: to you, Tessa. I seem to be having an issue

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Speaker 1: there with the phone line. Hopefully I'm able to get

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Speaker 1: her back, Tessa. Let's try again. Hopefully I've got you.

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Speaker 1: Good morning, Tessa. Hopefully I've got Tessa. Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: I can hear you now, Sorry, Tessa, not too sure

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Speaker 1: what was going on with the phone line there. Now.

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Speaker 1: You and I have spoken on the show previously about

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Speaker 1: your birthing experience at Royal Darwin Hospital after well not

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Speaker 1: being able to give birth at the private hospital as

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Speaker 1: you'd planned, and the experience has a been a smooth

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Speaker 1: one in your case, all for quite a few other

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Speaker 1: women by the sounds of things. What have you what's

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Speaker 1: been organized for this weekend and how's it come about?

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Speaker 2: So Katie. As you know, there's a group of us

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Speaker 2: that we started as mums who were in the private

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Speaker 2: system and moved into the public system after the closure

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Speaker 2: was announced, and we've actually expanded now so we've got

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Speaker 2: some other mums who are been through the RDH public

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Speaker 2: system through the home birth program, so we've got a

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Speaker 2: few more in our group, which is wonderful. But what

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Speaker 2: we're really trying to do is advocate for improvements to

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Speaker 2: be made to maternity services in Darwin and the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: And to be able to really do that effectively, we

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Speaker 2: need to have a really comprehensive cross section of the

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Speaker 2: community so we can get everybody's use and experiences and things.

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Speaker 2: So we've organized a community forum on Saturday for women

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Speaker 2: and families to come along and for healthcare workers to

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Speaker 2: come along and share their experiences, hopefully both good and bad,

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Speaker 2: as well as their sort of ideas and thoughts about

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Speaker 2: how we can improve maternity services moving forward.

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Speaker 1: And how do you hope that you know, by women

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Speaker 1: and families sharing those experiences, but also potentially you know,

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Speaker 1: some of those healthcare professionals, how do you hope that

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Speaker 1: it might sort of enact some change.

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Speaker 2: Well, what we're hoping to do, Katie, is this first

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Speaker 2: forum is intended to be sort of a closed session,

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Speaker 2: so we've not invited media or politicians along on Saturday

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Speaker 2: because we'd like people to come along and be able

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Speaker 2: to speak really freely and without concern about their details

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Speaker 2: potentially being published or if they're within the health profession,

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Speaker 2: facing some sort of reprisal for speaking up and speaking out.

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Speaker 2: But from that session, we hope to formulate some really

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Speaker 2: key points that we can go back to government with

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Speaker 2: about what changes we would like to and we're hoping

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Speaker 2: to have a further session which will will invite the

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Speaker 2: Health Minister and other politicians and key people within nt

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Speaker 2: Health as well as the media to try and get

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Speaker 2: some traction. And what we're hoping is that if we've

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Speaker 2: got a really broad cross section and lots of different experiences,

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Speaker 2: that the government might actually listen to what the community

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Speaker 2: is asking for in terms of change, because up until

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Speaker 2: now we're not having great success in driving change and

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Speaker 2: we really want those improvements to be felt for women

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Speaker 2: across the territory.

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Speaker 1: Well, the thing is the issue is not going away.

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Speaker 1: And you know, as much as the government as ministers

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Speaker 1: might like to think that it may. It's not going

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Speaker 1: to go away until women feel as though they're able

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Speaker 1: to get the care that you know, that they expect.

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Speaker 1: And I mean even for yourself, you know, going through

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Speaker 1: the process that you did where you're sort of being

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Speaker 1: examined in labor, you know, in a tea room at

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Speaker 1: the hospital, is not something women expect.

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Speaker 2: And that's right, Katie, and I think you've hit the

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Speaker 2: nail on the head. The issue is not going away.

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Speaker 2: It's continuing to be talked about within the mums and

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Speaker 2: mum's community, within the healthcare community, obviously within the media,

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Speaker 2: thanks to yourself and other people who are continuing to

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Speaker 2: give this issue some airtime. And I think until the

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Speaker 2: government actually acknowledges that there is a problem here, it

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Speaker 2: is something that needs to be addressed, and continuing to

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Speaker 2: run the line of oh, well, if we get some

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Speaker 2: money from the federal government, we'll be able to do something.

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Speaker 2: But until then we're stuck with what we've got. It

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Speaker 2: just isn't good enough. It's not being accepted by the community.

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Speaker 2: Women want to see improvements that are you know, immediate.

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Speaker 2: We also understand, of course that there are limitations on

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Speaker 2: the resources, so the things that we're hoping to be

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Speaker 2: able to put forward after this forum. Aren't just things

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Speaker 2: that are really significant. I mean, one of the biggest

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Speaker 2: changes that we're and would like to see and there's

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Speaker 2: a instagram a group called birth stories NT run by

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Speaker 2: a local mum, and she surveyed mums about what their

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Speaker 2: changes were. One of those was for partners to be

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Speaker 2: able to stay after birth, and we know that at

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Speaker 2: the moment the facilities at RDH don't allow that, and

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Speaker 2: that's probably a fairly drastic change that needs to happen,

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Speaker 2: and that's something we can look at down the line.

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Speaker 2: But one of the other changes that women really wanted

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Speaker 2: was continuity of care, and that is something that can

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Speaker 2: be addressed in the shorter term. We've heard about the

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Speaker 2: changes to the MGP program. There's some concerns about changes

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Speaker 2: potential changes to the home birth program and staffing around that,

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Speaker 2: and that is something that in my view is within

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Speaker 2: the government's control. It's something that they can look at now.

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Speaker 2: They don't need to wait for funding from the federal

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Speaker 2: government to make those change.

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Speaker 1: The other thing that had been suggested to me another

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Speaker 1: time I reckon it was last time you and I spoke,

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Speaker 1: is you know, whether maternity services could actually some of

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Speaker 1: those maternity services might be able to be placed at

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Speaker 1: the Palmerston Regional Hospital. I don't know whether there's space

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Speaker 1: out there or whether that is an option, but I

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Speaker 1: guess what women and what families are after at this

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Speaker 1: point is for everything to sort of be on the table.

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Speaker 2: That's right, Katie, And that's what we're hoping to sort

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Speaker 2: of generate out of this forum, apart from obviously hearing

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Speaker 2: women's stories and experiences, is let's put all of the

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Speaker 2: all of the options on the table and then get

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Speaker 2: some response from government about whether they are valid options

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Speaker 2: that can be considered right now. If not, why not.

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Speaker 2: I mean we've spoken about the birth center and the

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Speaker 2: fact that that's being limited used in a really limited

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Speaker 2: capacity at the moment, and I believe there are some

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Speaker 2: potential changes on foot for that which will hopefully mean

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Speaker 2: that it can be used more regularly at RDH four

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Speaker 2: births as opposed to for childbirth education classes and things,

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Speaker 2: which I think is what it's mainly being useful. Now

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Speaker 2: we know that Parmeerson Hospital was constructed with a maternity

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Speaker 2: suite or at least berthing sweet whether there is an

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Speaker 2: option to stand that up at some point in the future,

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Speaker 2: whether there is an option for a true private in

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Speaker 2: public model at RDIH. We know our last obstetrician private

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Speaker 2: obstetrician is finishing up in January, but there might be

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Speaker 2: you know, there might be options for other private obstetricians,

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Speaker 2: or maybe she can be convinced to stay on. But

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Speaker 2: that's only going to happen if there is this consideration

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Speaker 2: to a really true private in public model, not the

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Speaker 2: kind of stopgap measure that's been put in place at

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Speaker 2: the moment following the closure of DPH.

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Speaker 1: Tessa before I let you go, I mean, you touched

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Speaker 1: on this before you said that. Obviously the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: government is saying that funding is provided by the federal government.

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Speaker 1: You know, they've gone to the federal government as requesting

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Speaker 1: more money. I know, or I certainly thought that you

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Speaker 1: would do. Some of you ladies were going to be

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Speaker 1: catching up with Luke God's did you get much sort

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Speaker 1: of information or much traction with the federal member for

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Speaker 1: Solomon So.

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Speaker 2: We spoke to Luke in I think it was either

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Speaker 2: late July or early August, and the months of blurring

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Speaker 2: into one with a newborn Katie, and he indicated that

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Speaker 2: he had followed up with the Health Minister, the Federal

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Speaker 2: Health Minister and those discussions were continuing between the Federal

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Speaker 2: Health Department and the Northern Territory Health Department. But I

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Speaker 2: haven't haven't heard anything further, and certainly it's something that

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Speaker 2: we can we will continue to follow up. We know

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Speaker 2: the wheels of bureau bureaucracy and turn very slowly, but

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Speaker 2: I think it's got to a point now where women

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Speaker 2: are to be frank sick of sick of this being

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Speaker 2: a political football and hearing you know, it's the territory's problem,

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Speaker 2: it's the federal government's problem. We just want some action

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Speaker 2: and some change and the or of the politicians federal

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Speaker 2: and territory need who you really address the issue, realize

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Speaker 2: that it's not going away, and work out how we

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Speaker 2: can improve services for the Darwen and Northern Territory women.

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Speaker 1: I agree with you, it's above political party lines. It's like,

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Speaker 1: this is about the Northern Territory. It's about growing the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory as well and keeping people here. And you

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Speaker 1: know you're not going to do that if you're singing

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Speaker 1: mud at each other. They've got to work together on this, Tessa,

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Speaker 1: Before I let you go, is the where is this

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Speaker 1: forum happening on the weekend? And to any mums with

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Speaker 1: their bubs or maybe that are pregnant, or any families

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Speaker 1: that are expecting, how can they be involved?

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Speaker 2: So it's happening on Saturday, Katie, at twelve pm at

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Speaker 2: Raised Cafe in Darwin City, so that's at sixty six

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Speaker 2: Smith Street. Mums are welcome to come along. Extended family

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Speaker 2: are welcome to come along. Please feel free to bring

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Speaker 2: babies and children. Obviously we'll probably all have our little

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Speaker 2: ones there. And also to healthcare workers, we really them

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Speaker 2: to come along as well, and the broader community. To

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Speaker 2: be honest, it is really a community issue, Katie, and

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Speaker 2: she said we're trying to grow the population. I know

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Speaker 2: as a small business owner how hard it is to

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Speaker 2: get good quality staff and attract people from interstate, and

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Speaker 2: given the state of our maternity services, I think young

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Speaker 2: families and people who are looking at having children will

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Speaker 2: really be questioning whether a move to Darwan if that's

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Speaker 2: for them and for their family.

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Speaker 1: Well, Tessa, as always I appreciate your time. I reckon

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Speaker 1: we'll need to catch up next week as well. So

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Speaker 1: I can find out a little bit more about what

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Speaker 1: people tell you at the forum on the weekend. So

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Speaker 1: thank you so much for having a chat with us

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Speaker 1: while juggling your baby.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Petie, thank you