Birth Rights Rally

In Australia in the enlightened year of 2016, it is universally accepted that women get to choose who attends their birth as a support person. This is also enshrined in principles for Human Rights in Childbirth http://www.humanrightsinchildbirth.org/right-equal-treatment/ Bairnsdale Regional Health Service (BRHS) has failed to acknowledge or respect a womans right to autonomy and choice by dictating who may and may not attend their birth. BRHS has also threatened that women are ineligible to birth at the hospital, based not on risk factors but purely on a womans choice of carer and/or birth support. They have failed to personally contact families directly effected by this decision, and have not provided access to their quoted 'policies' on these issues. Maternity care should be women-centred and co-operative, not referred to or treated as a competition. The East Gipplsand Birth Support Group have organised a protest at BRHS next Friday the 8th of July from 12-1 pm. This rally is to make a stand for women's rights to choose. We want the hospital ban on having Angela Kellock as a support person removed and resolved. Show your support: 1. Share this event & invite your friends on FACEBOOK (see event details on East Gippsland Birth Support Group's Facebook page) https://www.facebook.com/events/1074937709252272/ 2. Attend the event, kids & other family members welcome 3. Wear purple 4. Bring signs with slogans, eg, "Women have a right to choose" "Lift the ban" Media will be present, we are inviting politicians. Come and show your support. If travelling to this event by train and in need of transport from the station to the rally, please contact the group for assistance.