BENDIGO Hospital has decided it will not be involved in a pilot project that allows women to give birth at home.

The State Government announced the $400,000 midwife-led home-birth project last week.

It would allow women to give birth at home with hospital back-up for the first time.

The announcement is a boon for women in favour of home births, who until now have had to pay between $1800 and $6000 for private midwives without organised access to hospitals if something went wrong.

A country hospital was sought to participate in the program, but Bendigo Hospital did not throw its hat in the ring.

“Bendigo Health believes this is a very positive initiative and will follow the progress of the pilot closely and look forward to any future service options that might emerge from this important project,” a spokeswoman said.

“Our current focus is to expand our Mamta program, where every woman has a dedicated midwife right through her pre-natal visits and delivery, which provides a similar continuity of care as the home-birth program.

“Women in the Bendigo community have shown a great deal of interest in the Mamta program and there is currently a high demand for inclusion in this program.”

The Mamta program offers women their choice of midwife, who will assist throughout the pregnancy, birth and postnatal period.

Early discharge is encouraged with the support of the midwife, who will then visit the new mother in her home.

State Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the home-birth project would start next year at Casey Hospital, Sunshine Hospital and a country hospital yet to be decided.

He said midwives employed in the one-year projects would be covered by their hospital’s insurance, and that women participating would have a midwife care for them throughout their pregnancy, with several back-up midwives available if their primary carer was sick or unavailable when they went into labour.

Antenatal care would also be provided by the hospitals so they could keep track of the mothers’ medical history.

“The new pilot programs will give Victorian families greater choice in maternity care and provide women with greater control of their birthing experience,” Mr Andrews said.

“Once the public home-birth program is evaluated, it may be more widely offered through the public health system.”