Save NBERC
Hello everyone,
I am writing to you from the Natural Birth Education & Research Centre, Lismore, in our last URGENT plea for your help.
The centre is now on the brink of closing its doors because of lack of funding and financial support.
We ‘need your help’ to help keep this unique place open, to provide a birthing option for women who want a home-like birth out of hospital in a natural, tranquil environment, with the continuity of care and support of registered midwives and doulas.
Not only do we want to keep NBERC open, we want this service to be free, or at least more financially viable for women. For six years NBERC has been providing a service for less than it costs the Government for a woman to birth in hospital, but women and the NBERC volunteers have had to pay for it out of their pockets. Now we think it's time the Government gave back, and this service be subsidised and therefore accessible to everyone.
There is no other free-standing birth centre quite like this one in Australia. And if you have birthed here or stayed here after your birth, we suspect that you will understand the importance of helping NBERC to stay open and be accessible to more women.
Santo, Lynne Austin, Dr Phillip Steele, The Hon. Nicola Roxon, MP, Member for Page Janelle Saffin and many NBERC clients and friends have been devoting countless hours and passionate support for the centre until now - but we need group action to make the Government really notice us. That is why I am writing to you to ask if you will lobby with us towards this project.
We need to send letters, and lots of them, to the following people in decision-making positions, to show we care greatly about what happens to NBERC:
The Hon. Nicola Roxon
Federal Minister for Health and Ageing
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
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Carmel Tebbutt
Deputy Premier, NSW and Minister of Health
Level 30,Governor Macquarie Tower
1 Farrer Place
Sydney NSW 2000
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Chris Crawford
Chief Executive Officer of Northern Rivers
Locked Mail Bag 11
Lismore NSW 2480
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Thomas George, MP
State Member for Lismore
PO Box 52
Lismore NSW 2480
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Don Page, MP
Member for Ballina
PO Box 1018
Ballina NSW 2478
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We recommend sending via snail mail, as a first preference, so letters don't get lost in email inboxes.
Things to include in your letters are:
* Why you want the centre to stay open, and what it means to you
* A plea for the Government to take notice of NBERCs submission for funding
Below is a wonderful letter of support written by Johanna Kempff to inspire you...
We anticipate, that with your help, we can make this happen.
If you want to have a baby here in the future, or want this option for other women, please help today. And to generate even more support, send copies of your letter to friends, and friends of friends, to widen this lobby group.
Thank you for all your time, your love and support.
Zanni Arnot
Secretary, NBERC Executive Committee.
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Letter of Support from Johanna Kempff:
Dear Janelle, Carmel and Nicola,
I am writing to all of you collectively to ask for your assistance in keeping the Natural Birth Education & Research Centre open. This wonderful Birth Centre is located near Lismore on the Far North Coast of New South Wales.
I am expecting my first child at the end of September this year, and I would love to have my baby there. It is such a tranquil caring environment with experienced midwives and doulas, and I know I would have a good birth experience there.
Using the Birth Centre would also stop me from clogging up the public hospital system. Lismore Base Hospital is my only other options, and Lismore Base is chronically underfunded and understaffed. I have spent time in that hospital as a patient and I know the nurses were run off their feet. Luckily my family dropped in every day to feed me and look after me. I get nervous just thinking about having my baby there, dealing with constant staff shift changes, hospital bureaucracy, unnecessary interference and possible infections. I am not sick, I am simply pregnant. Why should I give birth in a place built for sick people? It makes no sense.
Women need more options for birthing, and it is a fact that your surroundings and your attending midwife influence your state of mind and therefore the process of your birth. Births attended by a doula in a comfortable environment tend to be quicker, easier and have fewer complications - saving the public purse in the long run.
At present the Birth Centre relies on donations and a meagre income from birthing classes and clients who birth there and use the post-natal recuperation rooms. This fantastic Birth Centre needs to be supported by the government, and it needs support NOW. It is very close to shutting down and I really want to have my baby there.
If there is anything at all that you can do, such as supporting any funding applications that the Birth Centre submits, or lobby other politicians, please do so. Your help would be much appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
Johanna Kempff (and bub)
Johanna Kempff | Plantation Officer | Primary Industries
Industry & Investment NSW | 1243 Bruxner Highway | Wollongbar NSW 2477
T: 02 6626 1105 | F: 02 6626 1202 | M: 0419 478 277 | E:
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W: www.industry.nsw.gov.au | www.dpi.nsw.gov.au
The Natural Birth Education & Research Centre Inc
273 Lindendale Road Lismore NSW 2480
Tel: 61 2 6629 5312 Mob: 0412725353 E:
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