Birthing. Don't upset the doctors!

Mothers and babies are dying in childbirth for reasons that could be prevented. WHEN I mentioned to people that I was going to write an article on the large number of unnecessary caesareans, I was amused and alarmed by the extraordinary number of first responses that were, "You know that you're really going to upset the doctors." Well, I had better not say anything then. Other people described me as "brave". Should I be worried that a gang of obstetricians will drive round in their BMWs, tilt their heads, look over their glasses at me and then burn down my house?

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Caesareans. Women too often are conned into them.

The great birthing con is taking choice away from women Australia's caesarean rate is too high, but the Government is too scared to take on the doctors' lobby and legislate for midwife care. AUSTRALIA'S caesarean rate of more than 30 per cent is disgraceful. The World Health Organisation recommends a caesarean rate of under 15 per cent, and the First World countries closest to that are the Netherlands (13.6 per cent) and Finland (16.1 per cent) - countries that have legislated one-on-one midwife care and have a medical culture that supports it. The world's best and safest care for low-risk pregnancies is one-on-one midwife care. This care has been recommended by countless investigations and studies because it drastically cuts rates of unnecessary caesareans and other negative outcomes. Since New Zealand made sweeping legislation on birth choices 13 years ago, the percentage of women there who choose midwifery care has risen from 14 per cent to 80 per cent. There are sound medical reasons for caesareans, but not 30 per cent worth. Some women and babies are being ripped off.

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You know you're from Melbourne If....

When diarising anything in September you first consult the footy fixture. You were shocked when you found out not all street directories are called Melway. When everyone knows where a bar, cafe or restaurant is you no longer want to go there. You've read The Slap and you hate all the characters despite the fact they remind you of all your friend. And you would have slapped the kid too. You know Sunshine, Rosebud and the Caribbean Gardens are not as good as they sound. You consider yourself a socialist yet you drive a European car and have a cleaner. You'd rather sit next to Guy Rundle on a plane than Guy Pearce. You've attended a children's party that had rice-paper rolls, cous cous salad, croquembouche and a pinata. You or someone you know has received a grant. It's not Noosa, it's Noysa. And it's not snow it's the snoy. And it's Malvern now, not Chadstone, thanks to rezoning. You refer to rococo furniture as 'Very Franco Cozzo'. You felt betrayed when you discovered Melbourne was not the only place in the world with trams. If I say Jennifer Kyte and Johnny Diesel you know exactly what I’m talking about. You think the slogan on our licence plates should be 'Melbourne. The Coffee Is Shit Anywhere Else', 'Melbourne. Go To Sydney. We Hate Tourists' or 'Melbourne. What School Did You Go To?' You know the word "Moomba" means Up Your Bum, White Man. You're not happy Melbourne has been voted the World's Most Liveable City. You'd prefer it was voted 'Most Enigmatic, Tortured And Slightly Dangerous City'. You think the only person who looks good with a moustache is Ron Barassi. You've looked out the window of Puffing Billy and waved like an idiot at the cars at the railway crossing. And you've watched Puffing Billy pass as you sat in a car at the railway crossing, and waved like an idiot. You think beyondblue does great work but you hate the way it makes Jeff Kennett look good. Which is depressing.

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Trolls. Don't fertilize hate. Give no oxygen to trolls.

Take the power back and block hate followers.

I REMEMBER when I was about 14 slagging off some poor girl with my classmates. I thought how horrible what we were doing was and how glad I was it wasn't me being bitched about. I comforted myself with the knowledge that at least she didn't know.

I then had the sudden realisation that if we slagged this girl off behind her back and she didn't know, perhaps others slagged me off behind my back and I didn't know.

My heart sank. I then pondered whether, if people were going the hack on me on the quiet, I would want to know. No, I thought, I wouldn't.

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Private Schools. Anyone who supports them enables discrimination. End of.

The public/private schooling debate hit the news again last week, sparking debate over government funding of those schools – and how the Australian government will respond to the Gonski report.

Catherine Deveny, an outspoken advocate of public education, tells us why she’s so passionate on the topic – and where she believes Abbott and Gillard are going wrong.

‘There is no question of injustice to public schools here,’ Tony Abbott told an independent education forum this week. ‘If anything, the injustice is the other way.‘’ Spoken like a true private school boy.

‘Overall, the 66 per cent of Australian school students who attend public schools get 79 per cent of government funding,’ he said. ‘The 34 per cent of Australians who attend independent schools get just 21 per cent of government funding.’

Bless you Tony Abbott. You are the gift that keeps on giving. Only statements like this might stimulate national discussion to a level that might restore some overdue equity in our education system.

Some call Abbott’s comment fudging the facts. I call it bullshit.

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