The New Zealand maternity system has moved to keeping obstetricians out of the delivery room until there is an emergency. In 2000 the perinatal mortality rate for both Australia and NZ was 6/1000. The perinatal morbidity has risen to 7.5/1000 in NZ, whilst Australia has fallen to 5/1000. Mother nature can be a cruel midwife and in developing countries with poor medical services, this rate is a staggering 110/1000.The article encouraged me to do my own research about the statistics quoted. I found the statistics published by the Australian department of Health The figures quoted (made up) in the article are no where near the actual figures. The perinatal death rate in South Australia is 9.5 per 1000 and the overall rate for Australia is about 8 per 1000. NZ is doing better than quoted.
My lesson for today, dont beleive everything on the internet or written in the news paper, especially when the article shows a bias towards one model of care.
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2 comments:
You are quite right Tania, unfortunately I believe (very personal view) that the Australian Obstetricians are feeling threatened. It appears to me, that the Australian society is very male dominated and we must always remember that it is the bad news that is always reported not the good. Have you written to the paper that published the figures and challenged them?
Thanks for the link to the MMPO data which also links to MOH data for 2005. I had not realised this had been published online.
Good on you not just accepting what you read. It is concerning that misinformation is accepted as the 'truth'. Data often only confirms our individual perspectives and does little to shift us from entrenched positions I think, we see what we want to see and reject what we do not like. Often we need to look behind the figures to get a real picture of what is going on.
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