Thursday, 9 February 2023

Adjournment

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers, Minister for Child Protection and Family Services) (17:22): I move:

That the house do now adjourn.

Maternal and child health services

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:22): (25) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Health, and it is in relation to the suspension of maternal and child health nurse visits. This is an issue that I have been raising for some time in this house. Twelve months ago I raised the issue when these vital services were suspended during Victoria’s code brown. It caused an enormous amount of distress at that time. As I was saying at the time, families in vulnerable areas were not able to get maternal and child health visits. The issue is still very significant, and it is again causing great concern for so many mothers and families who have got newborns who are not getting appropriate follow-up.

There is now an indefinite suspension of face-to-face visits in some areas of Melbourne, including in these rapid population growth areas. I was referring to Wyndham and other areas last year, but it is including not only Wyndham and Melton but also Casey. The visits in these areas are restricted to babies up to eight weeks of age. This means that from two months of age parents are denied six out of the 10 key age and stage visits. Anyone will understand how vital these visits are. As I have explained before, they pick up so many issues, whether they are milestone issues or growth and development issues, feeding issues, domestic violence, a whole range of things, and it is absolutely critical for these visits to be occurring. This is an unacceptable situation that is impacting thousands of families. These visits are critical, as I said. They help a baby and their mother bond, but they also give support to those new parents.

The government, as I said, has known about this issue and the need to boost maternal and child health nurses. We had a review into the perinatal shortage back in 2018, and the government did nothing. That was pre COVID. The government will conveniently use COVID as an excuse, but when you have got newborn babies and you have got mothers and their families not being able to access this basic, vital service, it demonstrates just how dire the situation in our health system is. There is a rising demand in these areas, as we know, but if it is not addressed, the situation is only going to get worse. So the action I seek is for the government to restore these services as a matter of urgency.