DOCTORS are warning of a crisis in maternity care in rural Victoria, after the second regional hospital in a month has had problems finding enough staff to cover its maternity services.
The Victorian crisis follows a similar deterioration in rural maternity services in other states in recent years, in particular in NSW and Queensland.
Last week Colac Hospital was unable to find an after-hours obstetric GP to cover nine days over Easter, and was preparing to send mothers-to-be to Camperdown or on an hour's drive to Geelong during labour.
After local media reports revealed the issue, the hospital found a locum to cover the shortfall.
But hospital chief executive Geoff Iles said yesterday that it was a short-term solution to a bigger problem.
"It's reflective of a general shortage of GPs across rural Australia," he said.
"As a society we have not invested enough in GP proceduralists: doctors who provide obstetric care, anaesthetics or emergency.
"The current workforce is over-age and is getting older.
"Some GPs have been on call for 20-odd years, they are getting to the stage they wish to change their lifestyle.
"And the younger workforce is not quite at the stage they can take over."
To provide a safe maternity service a hospital needs local specialists in obstetrics and anaesthetics on call 24 hours a day, in case an emergency caesarean is required.
The Colac shortfall came two weeks after Portland District Health closed its maternity services due to a lack of anaesthetists and obstetricians, saying the closure would last at least six weeks and could become permanent.
Hospital chief executive John O'Neill said yesterday the anaesthetist was returning from exams next week, and the hospital was close to recruiting more staff to cover leave time.
Meanwhile, 14 women were told they would have to go more than 100 kilometres to Warrnambool hospital if they went into labour.
These were not isolated incidents but part of a trend in rural maternity, said Dr Mike Moynihan, president of the Rural Doctors Association of Victoria.
"I am not surprised by what happened at Colac — it's a harbinger of things to come," he said.
Since 1996, 40 maternity units had closed across the state, and others were near closure, Dr Moynihan said.
Nykial Rentsch lives two minutes' drive from Portland's hospital but said she would travel an hour to Hamilton to have her second child in May.
"My doctor advised me not to have our baby here," she said.
"If there were any complications they couldn't deal with it because of a lack of staff."
She said she was not looking forward to the hour's drive to Hamilton when she went into labour, and was worried about what could happen.
"It's scary. They need to do something about it because people aren't going to stop having babies."
Recent research by the Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists warned of a growing under-supply in the profession, especially in rural areas.
By 2028 demand will exceed supply in the profession by more than a third.
A spokesman for state Health Minister Daniel Andrews said maternity workforce shortages were an issue for maternity service providers nationally.
He pointed to several Government initiatives to support maternity services in rural Victoria, such as the $10 million Rural Maternity Initiative, several specialist training programs, and the new Deakin Medical School in Geelong.
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