Biloela’s maternity service clocks up more than 16 months on bypass due to specialist shortage

“He could have died,” she said.

Dougy was born at just 27 weeks old at the Biloela Hospital in central Queensland, just three weeks before its maternity service went on bypass due to a specialist shortage.

More than 16 months later, parents are still unable to give birth at the local hospital.

“It is not just the people of Biloela, it’s all the surrounding towns that also rely on our health services,” Ms Craig said.

“Rural patients deserve a good level of care.”

Ms Craig said although she and her husband Lachy want another child, the thought of falling pregnant without a service nearby was terrifying.

“I probably will relocate well before I need to just for the sake of being where I can be helped,” she said.

Dougy’s birth

Just three hours separated Ms Craig’s first contraction and the doctor delivering Dougy via an emergency caesarean section.

He was born with brain bleeds and was immediately flown to a Brisbane hospital.

But, without the maternity service being operational, Ms Craig said her son would not be alive.

“I probably would have given birth on the side of the road, and with a baby at [27 weeks] gestation. There’s no way that he could have survived,” she said.

Due to ongoing health implications, the family have travelled to Brisbane more than 15 times since he was born to see specialists.

Rural vs metro experience

Ms Craig said living rurally should not put her and her baby’s life at risk. 

“It is something that is part of rural life, but at the same time, we deserve accessibility to these services as well,” she said.

“We shouldn’t have to travel two-plus hours to get those services because a lot can happen in two hours when we’re talking about pregnancy and birth.”

Rural Health Management Services chief executive Trish Lisle said rural families were facing decisions that people in metro health services did not have to consider.

“They have the added stresses of not knowing where they can give birth, what the financial implications will be, and what that will mean for the family unit,” she said. 

The Gladstone hospital’s maternity service re-opened last year after being on bypass for more than six months. 

Recruitment issues

In June last year, the Queensland government announced a $42 million funding boost to expand regional maternity services.

They are offering general practitioners (GPs) $40,000 to train in obstetrics, and workforce incentives could see interstate and overseas workers receive up to $70,000 to live and work in regional Queensland.

Despite that, the Central Highlands Health and Hospital Service has been unable to find a GP with obstetric skills, hospital chief executive Emma McCahon said.

“Without an appropriate level of staffing, we cannot operate a service without exposing expectant mothers and their babies to an unacceptable risk and we will not do that to Biloela families,” Dr McCahon said.

Ms Lisle said one GP would not be enough to ensure services are adequate. 

“Having one doctor for the entire service isn’t sustainable,” she said. 

Also without a specialist doctor such as an obstetrician, high-risk or emergency births, like Dougy’s, would not be possible. 

Ms Craig said that once people moved to the area for placement or work experience, they usually stayed.

“It’s about the people that you find here and the experience of growing and learning together and just being a part of each other’s lives,” she said.

SOURCE: ABCNEWS