DOCS Laws & Freebirth Choice

The Department of Child Safety (DOCS)will be able to intervene where it is suspected that an unborn child may be at risk of harm after its birth. The intent is not to interfere with the rights of pregnant women, but to offer a supportive intervention that will reduce the likelihood of the child being placed in out-of-home care after birth. The acceptance of intervention is voluntary.

This was intended to protect unborn babies where they are in danger after they are born eg. if the mother is taking drugs or is living with an abusive partner etc.

This legislation does not give DOCS the authority to record a child protection notification if the concerns relate solely to the birth process. DOCS has no set policy on unassisted childbirth and having a freebirthwould not in itself be regarded as harm or risk of harm to the unborn child.

However, if people involved with the pregnant mother have additional information that leads them to believe the unborn child is at risk, then DOCS would give consideration to those views in forming a decision.

DOCS Policy / The Laws Concerning Unborn Children

Below is the actual wording of the The Child Protection Act 1999;

21A Unborn children

(1) This section applies if, before the birth of a child, the chief executive reasonably suspects the child may be in need of protection after he or she is born.

(2) The chief executive must take the action the chief executive considers appropriate including, for example—

(a) having an authorised officer investigate the circumstances and assess the likelihood that the child will need protection after he or she is born; or

(b) offering help and support to the pregnant woman.

(3) The purpose of this section is to reduce the likelihood that the
child will need protection after he or she is born (as opposed
to interfering with the pregnant woman’s rights or liberties).

For more information on how DOCS handles unborn child alerts, read the Child Safety Practice Manual, particularly Chapters 9 and 10. This is a table that will give you a basic idea of what consistutes as "harm", taken from the Child Safety Practice Manual.

Abuse of DOCS Legalisation

Those changes were implemented in September 2004. In February 2005, an alarming article appeared in the Courier Mail stating that those laws were invoked on a woman who legally and rightfully chose to decline a caesarean section at the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital. The hospital and its doctors lodged a child abuse notification with DOCS after approaching them for advice regarding their obiligations under the changed legislation. You can view the story here. The woman's support person has posted their side of the story here.

Before you start worrying, the recent amendments to the Child Safety Act, which were invoked in the case above, specifically exclude the law's use in "interfering with the pregnant woman's rights or liberties". Clearly, neither good practice, the obligation for informed consent in medical decisions, nor the law support what the hospital or the Child Safety Department did.

If someone reports you to DOCS purely for your birth choice, remember the law is NOT meant to infringe on a pregnant woman's right to choose how her care and birth go.