Section 59 - what happened?

We were one of number of NGO's lobbying ministers on Section 59 of the Crimes Act in time for a March Cabinet debate to learn that the debate has been, once again, postponed. The fact that the government has opted for a public education program is sort of reassuring but this ongoing reluctance to address the core issue around section 59 is sending messages that we should all feel uncomfortable about.

It seems that the fear of upsetting voting parents is a key to this reluctance, but our politicians are forgetting one fundamental thing. Section 59 is a law that protects the guilty, allows the innocent to continue to suffer and actively encourages 'worst practice' and the reluctance to repeal this law sends us the message that our politicians think 'worst practice' is good enough for our parents. Section 59 does not protect ordinary parents. It protects those who thrash their children with lumps of wood and can say to a jury they thought they were being reasonable. Allaying parents fears is the job of an education program, protecting children and creating an environment to encourage competent parenting is the role of the politicians.

Imagine if we, as a country, had only just started to have access to cars. The government could take the decision that everyone must learn to drive safely and have laws that punished those who didn't. Or the government could take the decision that we will let people have a go at it and enshrine the right to drive dangerously in legislation. Option 2 is plainly ridiculous - but essentially what we offer our parents. We take the option that looks cheap, but ultimately costs society dearly. This cost can be seen in the two new prisons ($250 million) being built and in the insatiable hunger of our health and welfare sector.

In a recent conversation with a politician Parents Centre came to the agreement that to provide $100 of education to a parent we would need to find $50 million to educate our parenting population. Parents Centre suggests that money spent enabling people to parent better is money well spent because a generation from now we will not be building new prisons and we will be looking at a healthier society where more people are motivated to start enterprises and find work. While our current political thinking on parents is "wait till they fail before we resource them", we are creating a snowball of a problem, and the further we go down that route the more expensive it will be to create a parenting environment where the focus is on success. When we allow parents to fail under the pressure of ignorance and lack of support we are wasting our societies resources. The opportunities for the children involved are wasted, the taxpayers money is wasted, and the skills of those who have to prop up those families are wasted, in that they could be better served ensuring that parents don't fail in the first place.

Every business knows that in order to get the best out of an employee they need to be skilled, resourced and valued. Why should it be any different for parents. We may not have a boss to report to but we still want to do the best job possible.

Maternity - how good is our delivery?

Some parts of New Zealand can boast the best maternity services in the world, while in others there is significant room for improvement in some critical areas. Of particular concern is the provision of services for premature babies and those requiring intensive care. This includes the ability to accommodate mothers who want to stay with their newborn babes.

It is important that sophisticated medical treatments are complimented with good old-fashioned maternal love. Separating mothers from their babies during the early days and weeks only adds to the vulnerability of these babies, and the stress of their mothers.

It is time for us to take a good look at what we want from our maternity service and aim to be a world leader in the delivery of maternity and post-natal care. This means addressing the needs of premature babies and their mothers to better facilitate breast feedingand rooming in options, and to ensure that every hospital is a Baby Friendly Hospital.

The current shortage of neo-natal beds has reached crisis point. These tiny babies are dependent on the actions of our political leaders to recognise the need for care which accommodates their mothers.

Another area of growing concern is the increasing rate of unnecessary medical interventions during birth. Precious health dollars could be better spent on neo-natal care. This needs to be addressed in terms of our expectations surrounding labour and birth. To turn this around we need to embark on a comprehensive education program for new parents and those lead maternity carers who too readily provide unnecessary interventions (including caesarean sections and inductions).

Addressing the needs of mothers and babies in the crucial early weeks will result in fewer re-admissions for postnatal depression, and associated stresses and illness. These are not just economic consideration but commonsense priorities.

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