‘Tip of the iceberg’: Doctor shortage blamed for rural maternity crisis
Pregnant women in a Queensland town are travelling more than 100km once they go into labour
Doctors are warning of potentially avoidable deaths as a growing number of maternity units divert pregnant women to different hospitals.
Gladstone Hospital in central Queensland has been on ‘birthing bypass’ for more than six months, limiting births at the hospital to planned caesareans.
All other women are diverted to places like Rockhamption — more than 100km away.
Recently retired anaesthetist Dr Sandy Donald claimed that at least two obstetricians had left Rockhampton Hospital as a consequence of the bypass, blaming burnout and “really dangerous transfers from Gladstone”.
