1. A chronic shortage of midwives across NSW has led to conflict. A resolution unanimously endorsed by the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association will see staff at Penrith’s Nepean Hospital maternity ward encouraged to turn away pregnant women who do not come from within “strict new geographical boundaries”, Fairfax reported.
However, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District chief executive Kay Hyman said that if staff followed through with the resolution from the association, there would be “consequences”. The fact remains that midwives at the hospital are, according to one midwife, “stretched to the brink”.
There are currently 21 vacant positions in the Women and Children’s Service department at Nepean, which according to insiders may not be filled due to budgetary constraints.
2. This morning an 18-year-old man was charged with the rape and murder of Joan Ryther, who was pregnant at the time of the assault. The man will face Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Saturday morning.
3. Flash floods have hit Melbourne, and more than 300 calls for assistance have been made to authorities since last night. Four people have been rescued from dangerous situations.
4. Another life threatening tornado is set to hit Oklahoma, reports News Ltd, less than two weeks since the last twister.
5. Individuals who do not identify as either a man or woman can now have their identity legally recognised in Australia. The NSW Court of Appeal has overturned case law that says all people must be listed as either male or female with the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages.
6. A couple has been accused of holding a 21-year-old women hostage in a rental apartment complex in Australia, and allegedly brutalizing her. Alfio Anthony Granata, 44, has been charged with rape and assault with a knife, as well as other offences. His wife, Jennifer Peaston, 32, also faces charges.
7. An Egyptian terrorist may be kept tin Australia indefinitely, in a high security detention facility. The Government may decide not to deport Abdel Latif, 42, because the offence he has been convicted of carries the death penalty in Egypt.
8. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has allegedly spent thousands of dollars from state funds on Botox treatments in America.
9. UK’s Animal Planet aired a program recently that attracted the largest audience in the network’s 17 years on air – 3.6 million viewers. The program? Mermaids: The New Evidence. The ‘mocumentary’ caused Twitter users to post shocked comments of disbelief, many of whom didn’t realise the program was intended as a hoax. You can watch a trailer for the mocumentary below:
Top Comments
If it wasn't for one doctor alone at my hospital, the midwives would have sent me home because in their minds "I wasn't in enough pain to be in labour"... 4 hours later I was pushing my baby out. If this doctor didn't make the right call I would have had my baby at home! Liverpool hospital was a disgrace!
I don't understand the big issue at Nepean? This is common practice at all hospitals ie RPA at camperdown certainly adhere to strict boundaries for maternity patients.
Unfortunately no hospital can be a free for all and you do need to attend your local hospital.
Traditionally, it hasn't been an issue. I had a couple of my kids at hospitals that weren't in my geographical area, although they are trying to enforce it now. That said, I can't see a hospital turning someone away if they turned up at A&E in active labour.