Gold Coast Birth Centre - Queensland Centre for Mothers & Babies

Indicator 13: Can women choose the gender of their care provider(s) for labour
and birth
Gold standard care is defined as women being able to choose the gender of their care provider(s) for labour and birth.
We asked women: “Could you choose whether your care provider(s) for labour/birth were male or female”
The graph displays the percentage of women who said that they could choose the gender or their care provider(s).
STATEWIDE PUBLIC
10
Gold Coast Hospital (n=339)
8
Gold Coast Birth Centre (n=27)
4
STATEWIDE PRIVATE
27
John Flynn Private Hospital (n=107)
16
Pindara Private Hospital (n=239)
30
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Best public hospital in Queensland:
Mareeba Hospital 29%
Best public birth centre in Queensland:
Townsville Birth Centre 29%
Best private hospital in Queensland:
Nambour Selangor Private Hospital 36%
What do women say about their care
“My birth plan was not read or ignored as I was given a
male midwife half way through my 22 hour labour. I did not
feel able to object at this painful time… a male student
midwife was also allowed to walk straight up to me and ask
me whilst I was paused between painful and frequent
contractions if he could observe.”
“I also was very uncomfortable with having males in the
room other than my partner. I made staff aware of this, and
as I started pushing a male paediatrician came into the
room to observe me. I felt this unnecessary as I had no
complication or drugs.”
28