In two contrasting media releases, the Tasmanian Government and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Tasmania present opposing views on a proposed public homebirth program.
The government, through Bridget Archer MP, is launching a consultation paper to develop a model that offers women more choice and provides new opportunities for midwives. Conversely, the AMA Tasmania, represented by Dr Michael Lumsden-Steel, is urging the government to halt the plan, arguing that hospital births are the safest option due to immediate access to emergency medical support and specialists.
Bridget Archer, Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing, 12 September 2025
Developing a public homebirth model for Tasmania
The Tasmanian Government is inviting feedback on a public sector homebirth model, which will increase options for Tasmanian women and increase professional opportunities for midwives.
A consultation paper has today been launched to inform the development of a new Tasmanian Public Homebirth Program, which will draw on the evidence base, best practices and the experiences of other Australian jurisdictions where public homebirth models have been implemented.
Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Bridget Archer, said public homebirth is a safe and woman-centred model that leads to positive outcomes for women and babies, and increases the scope of practice for midwives.
“We are committed to listening and responding to Tasmanians, and the release of this consultation paper today is an important step towards the development of a public homebirth model in Tasmania,’’ Minister Archer said.
“This is about helping Tasmanians deal with the challenges they face, with compassion and commonsense.
“We know pregnancy and birth are one of the most important and precious moments that a family will experience in their lifetime, and working towards a public homebirth model is about offering women additional choice in how and where they birth.
“Importantly, introducing a public homebirth model in Tasmania will provide access to an alternative model of safe and woman-centred care that is personalised to the woman, is respectful and empowering.
“Introducing this model of care will also be beneficial for our highly valued midwives across Tasmania, by creating professional opportunities for them to work to their full scope of practice.
“The consultation paper outlines the proposed inclusion criteria for a public homebirth model, and we encourage all Tasmanians with an interest in this matter to provide their feedback, which will inform the model, principles, operational implementation and evaluation.”
Minister Archer said the development of a public homebirth model followed the Select Committee on Reproductive, Maternal and Paediatric Health Services, which received submissions calling for evidence-based, respectful and trauma-informed care. A key part of this feedback was a desire for improved continuity of care and greater choice for women.
The development of this model will include a focus on integration with existing maternity services across Tasmania, including the Midwifery Group Practice model.
Feedback is invited via the Department of Health website. Formal consultations will continue until 19 October.
Media release – AMA Tasmania, 12 September 2025
DOCTORS: HOSPITAL BIRTHS REMAIN THE SAFEST OPTION — GOVERNMENT HOME BIRTH PROGRAM RISKS AVOIDABLE HARM
The AMA Tasmania is calling on the state government to put on hold any plans for a government-provided home birth program, arguing that the safest place to give birth is a hospital where obstetricians, anaesthetists, paediatricians, and surgical facilities are immediately available if needed.
The AMA Tasmania doctors support midwifery care and other continuity of care models (including GPs) within a collaborative team environment within a hospital setting and strongly oppose any taxpayer-funded home birth scheme, which we know increases risk to mother and child.
“Birth is usually normal until it isn’t. When an emergency unfolds, every minute counts,” said Dr Michael Lumsden-Steel, President AMA Tasmania.
Hospitals provide instant access to operative delivery, blood products, neonatal resuscitation, and intensive care. That safety net cannot be replicated in a lounge room, no matter how skilled the midwife may be.
“If a birth goes wrong and a mother needs to be transferred to a hospital, the delay can result in shoulder dystocia, postpartum haemorrhage or foetal distress. Delay translates into harm.
“Our duty is to back the safest system for mothers and babies.
“We absolutely support woman-centred care, choice, and culturally safe services. But ‘choice’ must sit within a system designed first for safety. The public health system shouldn’t underwrite a setting where we know the risk to mother and child is higher, and the ultimate cost to the system is greater if it all goes wrong, ” said Lumsden-Steel.
“The fact that no commercial insurer was prepared to ensure private sector midwives for home birth settings and the Commonwealth legislated to expand the government-backed Midwife Professional Indemnity Scheme (MPIS) to include out-of-hospital intrapartum care (homebirths), speaks volumes.
“There is also a greater risk of the state government being sued when this goes wrong, increasing the financial cost to the government.
“Government funding home births sends the wrong message, when we know the safest place to deliver a baby is within a hospital.”
Lumsden-Steel concluded in saying “There is nothing more devastating than losing a child. Every Tasmanian family deserves access to the best care they and their baby can receive as quickly as possible, when it is most needed.”
Rather than the state supporting the home birth rate, currently at only 0.3-0.6% of all births across Australia, the Minister needs to ensure that our women’s and children’s facilities are upgraded across the state, so we can support safer birthing and collaborative care in hospitals built to meet demand.”
Key concerns
• Rapid escalation is critical. Events such as severe bleeding, cord prolapse, foetal heart rate abnormalities and neonatal breathing difficulties require immediate, multidisciplinary care. Hospitals provide obstetrics, anaesthesia, operating theatres, blood bank and paediatrics on site.
• Higher vulnerability for first births. Risks are greatest for first-time mothers and when transfer is required during labour. A government-endorsed home birth model may unintentionally normalise higher-risk settings.
• System pressure and equity. Publicly funding home birth diverts scarce resources from strengthening hospital maternity services which are safer.
• Medico-legal and duty of care. A state-run program endorses a setting where the standard of emergency response can never match an acute hospital. That exposes families and clinicians to avoidable risk and the health system to liability.
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