APPEAL FOR SAFE BIRTH: Let us stop the dangerous law!

1. We appeal to Senators (and later on, Deputies) to say a clear NO to the Act on Medical Services currently in negotiation, as it returns the Czech obstetrics system to the communist Normalization times. In Western European countries, midwives are recognized experts on care for healthy pregnant women, women at birth, and women and their children after birth. A physician should only be called for in the event of complications. However, in contradiction to growing demand and available research results, the bill in negotiation contains no definition of the medical services of midwives. Thus, care for the mother and the child is not only less safe, but also noticeably more expensive.

2. We appeal to the persons in charge to provide midwives with adequate legislative support for their work, thus allowing pregnant women to choose a place and method for giving birth, as granted by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms as well as the European Convention on Human Rights and rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. It is absurd in a situation where pregnant women living mere 200 km west, south and north of the capital of the Czech Republic (in Germany, Austria and Poland) enjoy state-guaranteed midwifery, even covered by health insurance.

3. We regard it as untenable that the Czech State should be dictating to the women a sole available provider of pregnancy care and place to give birth. All of this is in a situation where it is by no means able to guarantee that a birth managed by a physician in a hospital is the best for the pregnant women and women at birth and, in particular, for their children. The alarming number of caesarean sections does not result in an increased safety of care for the children; the opposite is true. According to WHO and IMBCO analyses, safe care optimally arises from midwifery principles. What is more, the intended closing down of maternity clinics can be expected to reduce the availability and quality of care for pregnant women and women at birth due to more strain on the medical staff.

4. We regard the recent case of midwife Ivana Königsmarková as a consequence of inadequate legal support for the work of midwives in the Czech Republic. For several years, the Ministry of Health has been opposing any consistent collaboration with professional organizations of midwives as well as organizations representing obstetric clients, and has obstinately turned down all requests to adopt existing international standards for freelance and continuous care provided by midwives. In the Ministry of Health concept, women who choose to give birth outside a medical facility shall remain without professional assistance. The European Court of Human Rights is already dealing with a grievance lodged by a woman who found no professional assistance for a home birth in the Czech obstetric system in 2010. In a similar case in Hungary, the Court ruled in favour of the woman who had lodged the grievance.
 

IF YOU CARE THAT OBSTETRICS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC CONFORM TO THE RULES OF SAFE BIRTH, FULLY IN LINE WITH THE LATEST SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, PLEASE APPEND YOUR SIGNATURE TO THIS APPEAL.



As of 6 October 2011, the following people have endorsed the Appeal:
(This is not a finite list; the numbers of names are constantly growing)

A
MUDr. Jitka Adámková, general practitioner
RNDr. Libor Ambrozek, biologist, chairman of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation
RNDr. Monika Ambrozková, Ph. D., project manager
Mgr. Martin Ander, Ph. D., member of the Municipal Council of Brno

B
Simona Babčáková, actress, Dejvické theatre
Mgr. Jitka Bartáková, high school teacher
Ing. Pavla Bejšáková, civil engineer
PhDr. Věra Břicháčková, psychologist
Jan Bílý, instructor, coach and book author

C, Č
Lenka Cingrošová, director and documentarist
Mgr. Bc. Michaela Čápová, psychologist and psychotherapist
Ing. Jitka Černá, translator
MUDr. Milena Černá, director of Committee of Good Will - The Olga Havel Foundation

D
Bc. Martina Dbalá, teacher, on maternity leave at the moment
Štěpánka Dejmalová, antiquity restorer
Jan Dolanský, actor
MUDr. Lukáš Dostal, company executive manager
Ing. Karel Doubek, hotel manager
Mgr. Dagmar Doubková, psychologist
Mgr. Terezie Dubinová, Ph. D., scientist in cultural and Hebraic studies
PhDr. Radka Dudová, Ph. D., sociologist

G
PhDr. Jitka Gabašová, high school teacher

H
Mgr. Martina Hanáčková, founder of Positive Parenting consultancy in Jičín, instructor
PhDr. Martin Herzán, author, poet and artist, former committee member of Governmental Council for Human Rights
Mgr. Monika Horáková, journalist and translator
Dáša van der Horst, director of Amnesty International
PhDr. Simona Hoskovcová, Ph. D., child psychologist, Department of Psychology, Charles University Philosophical Faculty
Ludvík Hradilek, photographer

CH
MUDr. Vladislav Chvála, obstetrician, psychosomatist

I
Martha Issová, actress

J
PhDr. Martin Jára, psychologist
Prof. Josef Jařab, university professor, former Senator
Mgr. Kateřina Jechová, councillor for social, medical and housing issues, Prague 2 Council
Mgr. Kateřina Jonášová, journalist, publicist and author

K
Tereza Kalinová, consultant and conscious business teacher
MUDr. Vratislava Kovářová, nephrologist
Mgr. Silvie Kratochvílová, chairwoman of Prague 7 Council Financial Committee, education professional
Markéta Krausová, communication therapist and consultant
Mgr. Petra Kutálková, deputy director of La Strada Česká republika, o.p.s., social worker

L
PhDr. Eva Labusová, freelance journalist
Mgr. Petra Langášková, lawyer
Mgr. Klára Laurenčíková, university professor, former deputy Minister of Education and member of Governmental Council for Human Rights
Mgr. Ondřej Liška, former Minister of Education, chairman of the Green Party
Martin Literák, member of the board of directors of a private company
Mgr. Lucie Lucká, psychotherapist

M
Mgr. Michaela Marksová-Tominová, shadow minister for human rights and equal opportunities
MUDr. Martin Matějů, Oncology Clinic of the Military University Hospital and Charles University 1st Faculty of Medicine
Dr. Dana Moree, professor at Charles University Faculty of Humanities
Mgr. Michaela Mrowetz, clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, judicial expert, author of Bonding: Birth Pleasure, or Support to the Family as a Path to More Wholesome Obstetrics and Society?
Mgr. Martin Myšička, actor

N
Barbora Nádvorníková, instructor of women’s seminars, consultant and producer
Antonia Nyass, Yellow Sisters singer

P
JUDr. Pavel Pešek, lawyer and entrepreneur
Ing. Vladimír Pikora, Ph. D., chief economist in a financial corporation
Ing. Eva Pocová, teacher
Ing. Markéta Poskočilová, homoeopathist

R
MUDr. Martina Raczová, physician, homoeopathist
MgA. Klára Raková, teacher
PhDr. Blanka M. Remešová, Ph. D., ethnologist
MUDr. Michaela Ročňová, general practitioner
MUDr. Milan Ročeň, anaesthetist
MUDr. Dagmar Ratajová, psychiatrist
Matouš Ruml, DiS., actor

S, Š
PhDr. Lenka Simerská, sociologist
PhDr. Jaroslav Simon, psychotherapist
Mgr. Margit Slimáková, Ph. D., natural healthcare consultant, instructor and journalist
Ing. Ivan Smolka, high school principal
Dagmar Smržová, documentarist and director
Kateřina Stejskalová
Klára Stuchlá Libertová, project manager for Město pro děti.cz
Ing. Veronika Svobodná, MD
Mgr. Anna Šabatová, Ph. D., university professor
Ing. Markéta Šichtařová, director of a financial corporation
Josef Šmída, public service accountant, head of the Green Party human rights expert section
MUDr. Jan Šroubek, neurosurgeon
MUDr. Daniela Šroubková, psychiatrist

T
Tereza Tara, director

U
Mgr. Michal Uhl, sociologist and anthropologist, member of Governmental Council for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men

V
JUDr. Zbyněk Valenta, lawyer and university professor
Bc. Ludmila Valentová, MD
Ing. Markéta Veljačiková, instructor in managerial skills and coach
Ing. Pavel Veljačik, manager in an IT company
Veronika Vieweghová, founder of Putti maternity centre
Lenka Vlasáková, actress
Luboš Vrba, company executive manager