Birthing care returns to Biloela, Cooktown after mum's three-year fight

Birthing services have returned to Biloela and Cooktown after more than four years on bypass, bringing relief to local expectant mothers. The services were shut down in 2022, forcing women to travel out of town for maternity care.

Katie Craig's son was born three months early, making him one of the last children born in Biloela Hospital's birthing unit before it closed. She had gone into labour with son Dougy at 27 weeks, or about 12 weeks before full term. Ms Craig believes the lives of both her and her son could have been at risk if they had been unable to access specialised care locally.

"With me going into spontaneous labour it all happened very quickly," she said. "If the hospital had have been on bypass and I had to be transferred to Rockhampton or Gladstone I don't think I would have made it in one piece."

"I probably would have birthed on the side of the road and with my baby being three months early, his likelihood of survival is very, very low."

The reopening of the Biloela birthing unit comes almost three years to the day since Ms Craig launched a petition calling for its return. "It's such a necessary service, it's so important for mums to feel safe and secure in their pregnancy and know that they can get help in a timely manner," Ms Craig said. "It's also really important that they can stay close to their support networks for the duration of their pregnancy."

However, experts have expressed concerns that the services do not go far enough. The reopened Biloela birthing unit will offer level two services, down from a level three at the time of its closure. This means the unit is unable to treat complex or emergency pregnancies.

"We would've hoped to have seen a return to level three in Biloela as well as Cooktown, but it looks like that's going to be a permanent downgrade in services in Biloela," Associate Professor Erica Gannon said. "Transfer of patients as they are labouring between hospital is certainly a very high-risk cohort."

Ms Craig said she was grateful for the return of the Biloela service, but hopes it will eventually expand. "We definitely hope that with time more workforce can be recruited that allows for more mothers to birth here in Biloela safely."

Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Callide MP Bryson Head said rural areas needed more access to maternity and birthing services. "I'm going to keep advocating for them because I think they're an important service to have in a lot of these communities," Mr Head said.

Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Lisa Blackler said it had been a challenge to recruit specialist personnel to the small community. "Attracting workforce to a rural town is really challenging, so getting the midwives on the ground I'm very proud of our efforts and our leadership to attract the midwives and the medical support," she said. "The real challenge of any health service is when you turn something back on it's about sustaining it and that's why we've worked incredibly hard," she said. "I feel very proud that were going to turn this back on and leave it on for this community."