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The leading Health scrutineer has called on the Health Minister to "improve communication" regarding the suspension of Jersey's home birth service.
Deputy Louise Doublet – who is Chair of the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel – told Express that she has a "better understanding of the reasons behind the suspension" following a meeting with Health Minister Tom Binet yesterday.
The Health Department suspended the home birth service in October to carry out an internal review of protocols, staff training, and resources.
Pictured: Deputy Louise Doublet is Chair of the the Health and Social Security Panel.
Deputy Doublet said she was "very concerned" about the move.
"I invited the Minister and Assistant Minister with responsibility for this area to talk to my panel," she explained.
"They outlined to us some of the reasons why the service has been suspended.
"I now understand that the home birth service has been run on the goodwill of midwives for a long time.
"There have been staff who are so dedicated to the cause of keeping this service going that they went above and beyond to make sure it continued."
She added: "Following the meeting, I do have a better understanding of the reasons behind the suspension – and I have asked that the Minister improve the communication with the public so they also have this full understanding.
"I will be monitoring this area and the progress and timings of the review."
Pictured: The Health Department suspended the home birth service in October to carry out an internal review.
Deputy Doublet said that she has also raised concerns with the Health Minister about the possibility of islanders choosing to free birth at home following the service suspension.
"This presents a safety concern and my question remains: how will the safety of mother and baby be ensured if they choose to free-birth at home?" she said.
Roslyn Bullen-Bell, Director of Midwifery, this week strongly cautioned islanders against giving birth at home without medical supervision – know as 'freebirthing'.
"Free birthing is not something I'd advocate at all," she said.
Birthrights, a UK charity that champions respectful maternity care by protecting human rights, also called for the internal review in Jersey to be completed "swiftly" to allow the island's home birth service to be reinstated.
Pictured: Birthrights is a UK charity that champions respectful maternity care by protecting human rights.
In a statement, the charity said: "Birthrights is deeply concerned at the increasing number of reports of restrictions to and suspension of home birth services across the country.
"In September 2024, the largest proportion of enquiries to our advice service related to home birth service suspensions, a trend which continued during November and December.
"All women and birthing people must be able to access their fundamental rights, whatever their background is and wherever they live.
"This includes choosing how and where they give birth and having access to the full breadth of maternity services.
"Person-centred care should always be the starting point of the maternity system and provisions must be made that recognise individual needs.
"In Jersey, any internal process needs to be completed swiftly to ensure home birth services become available to all and the hospital must consider the individual needs of people during the review period."
A petition calling for the immediate reinstatement of Jersey's home birth service has gathered over 500 signatures.
The petition can be found HERE.
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