00:00Amy lost her first baby after reporting decreased fetal movements multiple times within three
00:10weeks to different medical professionals.
00:13So those weeks really were vital in her care and I think if we saw the same person perhaps
00:19something could have been done.
00:20She's one of many who spoke at a recent forum in Darwin about the importance of seeing the
00:26same midwives or doctors known as continuity of care.
00:30The issues that we're hearing about at Royal Darwin Hospital have been there for a long
00:36time.
00:37It's come about I think as a chronic under resourcing for consecutive governments both
00:42in the territory and at a federal level.
00:44The organisers are local mothers who have formed the group Our Birth, Our Voice.
00:49They say chronic staffing shortages at an under resourced Royal Darwin Hospital made
00:55worse by the recent closure of Darwin's private maternity ward are forcing families to move
01:01elsewhere.
01:02You've got defence families not wanting to post here because they don't have birth choice
01:07options either.
01:08Tessa laboured for several hours in a public tea room at the hospital because of a shortage
01:13of beds.
01:14I obviously have got Millie and she was born ultimately safely but some women aren't that
01:21lucky and it shouldn't be about luck.
01:23Others spoke of the need for a safe space for mothers and fathers to grieve at the hospital
01:30after the trauma of losing a baby.
01:32The heartbreak of losing a baby is immeasurable.
01:36The trauma of being on the maternity ward with live babies is trauma that will stay with
01:40me forever.
01:41I was locked up at the Royal Darwin Hospital under the Mental Health Act because I was grieving.
01:50I wasn't given a space.
01:51There was no support whatsoever for my grief.
01:54Representatives from both levels of government and the Territories Health Department attended the forum.
02:00Simply giving the territory the equivalent of the average of the other states and territories would
02:06add $200 million a year to NT Health's operating budget, make an enormous difference to our ability
02:13to deliver healthcare in the territory.
02:15The message to the government is that we're here to stay.
02:17This is not going to be an issue that we pick up today and it's gone tomorrow.
02:22I think the chorus of voices is getting louder and louder and louder.
02:28The Federal Government says it's awaiting a proposal for funding from the Territory Government
02:33in line with those received from other jurisdictions that have lost private maternity services.
02:39Thank you very much.
02:40Thank you very much.
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