The ACT Greens will deliver a co-designed, midwife-led, freestanding birth centre, and expand midwife-led continuity of care to all who want it if re-elected at the October 19 election.

MLA for Ginninderra Jo Clay said the government needed to provide more choice, to empower women and birthing people choose the care and place of birth they needed and wanted.

“Birth is not an illness. Yet the vast majority of women and birthing people currently have no choice but to give birth inside a hospital,” Ms Clay said.

“The ACT Greens want all women and pregnant people to have the ability to choose the type of care and place of birth that is right for them. But currently our two hospital-based birth centres have hundreds on the waitlist.

“The Canberra community has been calling for a freestanding birth centre for almost a hundred years and it’s time we built one, in addition to the two hospital-based birth centres that already exist.

“In traditional hospital based models of care, people will see many different care providers throughout their journey which can be exhausting, isolating and possibly lead to a more negative birth experience.

“Some women and birthing people will want to choose to birth in a hospital, and that’s great, but for those who want to birth in a home-like environment with a known midwife, Canberrans simply need more choice.”