Shepparton again calls for urgent funding of early parenting centre

Having spent the past year working in Goulburn Valley Health’s maternity ward, Miss Watts knows first-hand the challenges mothers face after giving birth and says the community urgently needs more support for struggling parents.

Mothers of newborns can stay in hospital for two days after a vaginal birth and for three days after a Caesarean section, which Miss Watts says isn’t long enough for some.

“Often that means that we're sending families home before they feel confident enough to do so ... that means that they are going home feeling nervous and maybe disempowered,” she said.

The teenage birth rate in greater Shepparton is one of the highest in the state, more than double the Victorian average according to the latest data (2017-18).

Rates of intervention during labour and birth are rising nationwide and Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia says up to one in three mums experience the birth of their baby as traumatic.

The most recent Safer Care Victoria report shows the state average of full-term babies without congenital anomalies requiring additional care is eight per cent, whereas at Goulburn Valley Health it is the highest in the state at 14.9 per cent.

“It's not in anyone's birth plan to go home without their baby, so the potential impact that has on the mental health of parents is massive,” Miss Watts said.

There are a variety of support services available to parents of infants in the region and Miss Watts said an early parenting centre would improve communication and continuity of care between them.

“It would be great to have the early parenting centre so we can bring all those services together to collaborate, to ensure we’re getting a holistic approach to their care,” she said.

The key difference between an EPC and services already available in Shepparton, such as Family Care’s parent child ‘day stay’ program, is the ability to stay overnight.

Family Care works closely with Melbourne-based EPCs, providing referrals for families from Shepparton and surrounding districts to stay for several nights, be supported by experts and connect with other families going through similar experiences.

Family Care chief executive David Tenant said the absence of an EPC in the Goulburn Valley was “clearly a gap” and would serve a role in the continuum of care available in the region.

“We are 100 per cent supportive of the idea that you need all of those facilities available, and you need them regionally, so you don’t lose people when you’re making referrals that require travel,” he said.

Mr Tenant said there had been occasions when the only way to ensure at-risk families made it to an EPC in Melbourne was for Family Care staff to drive them and pick them up at the end of their stay.

“Shepparton does a really good job of providing high quality early years services, we’re proud to do that work, and our maternal child health nurses and hospital are fantastic to work with,” he said.

“But we do need extra resources to keep pace with how the community has grown.”

EPCs particularly benefit parents experiencing difficulties with mental health, housing insecurity, family violence, alcohol and drug issues and infants experiencing physical health issues.

More than 20 per cent of clients referred to existing EPCs are born in a non-English-speaking country and three per cent are Traditional Owners.

In 2019, the Victorian Government invested $135 million over four years to expand public EPCs across the state, including a plan to build three of seven new centres in regional Victoria at Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.

But politicians and health experts agree that omitting Shepparton from the plan was a gross oversight.

Last month Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell renewed calls for an EPC run by GV Health.

This “infuriated” Shepparton paediatrician Peter Eastaugh, who for decades has fought for improved specialist services for at-risk mothers and their newborn infants.

Dr Eastaugh said Ms Lovell had the opportunity to fund a service for at-risk mothers during her time as Children and Early Childhood Development Minister between 2010 and 2014.

“She was provided with all of the information and she did nothing,” Dr Eastaugh said.

Ms Lovell denied Dr Eastaugh engaged her on the issue during that time and said it was outside her wheelhouse during that period.

“This is something that was a very new concept when we were in government, it wasn't in my portfolio, it was in the mental health portfolio,” she said.

State Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed listed an EPC as a key priority when campaigning.

She said it was “so disappointing” the Goulburn Valley was still waiting more than two decades after the idea emerged.

“We need six or seven million dollars to put it together, a purpose-built unit … close to the centre of town,” Ms Sheed said.

“The fair thing to say is progressive governments have overlooked the opportunity as well.

“Wendy has been calling for it, I’ve been calling for it, we keep going on about it and every time I meet with the minister he says ‘Keep it on the list, keep asking’.”

Ms Sheed said an EPC for Shepparton was not a big ask.

“It’s not rail and it’s not a new hospital. It’s a parenting unit that could easily be funded.”