Reproductive health expertsprivate maternity wards are at risk of becoming “extinct by the end of this decade”, potentially channeling pressure on public healthcare.
An article in a publication for Australian doctors found factors including lower birth rates and the cost of private health insurance were leading to fewer people giving birth in private maternity wards.
Healthcare providers suggested a failing private sector “would strike a major blow for many Australians needing care and destabilise the entire health system,” by putting moreon public hospitals.
Maternity
An article published in an Australian Medical Association newsletter identified a trend of private maternity hospitals closing in Queensland, Victoria, WA and SA.
Two obstetrician-gynaecologists and an obstetrics researcher behind the findings said “the resources necessary to run [private] maternity services” are unsustainable.
“The number of births occurring in Australian private maternity hospitals are [falling] so quickly that, by the end of the decade, [they] will cease to exist,” the experts suggested.
Factors
The experts pointed to several factors leading to the decline, including difficulties finding skilled staff for private hospitals, and the affordability of private health cover for pregnancy and birth.
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your account details:
Experts also flagged Australian women are having, on average, fewer babies.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows there were 3% fewer births registered in 2022 than in 2021, while births are down significantly from a peak in the 1960s.
Declining birth rates were highest among higher socio-economic groups, who are also the most likely to afford private health cover.
“Many women who do hold private health insurance still choose to birth in public hospitals,” experts noted, because of the “out-of-pocket costs” associated with giving birth in a private hospital, “even with top-level health insurance.”
Private health costs
Private Healthcare Australia (PHA) – the private health insurance industry’s peak body – said obstetrician fees are the biggest barrier to accessing private maternity care.
PHA argued specialists can “charge whatever they like,” and said insurers “are not allowed to cover the care they provide to women during pregnancy in the lead-up to birth.“
Dr Rachel David, PHA CEO, called on obstetricians who “want private maternity care to remain viable,” to “be held accountable by reviewing their fees.”
