A midwife has sensationally quit her job after helping deliver twins to a mother who was only expecting one baby.
Melbourne midwife Martina Gorner was suspended following an investigation by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency into a set of twins' premature birth at 35 weeks old on October 19last year.
The mother had decided on home delivery and opted out of having an ultrasound, meaning she only learned she was having twins when she was giving birth.
The babies were born healthy but needed to be transferred via ambulance to hospital after one developed breathing difficulties, Nine News reported.
But the midwife from Ten Moons Homebirth Services was suspended following the births.
Gorner says the AHPRA have accused her of causing harm to pregnant women and their newborn babies and are concerned at the midwife's practices.
"From the available information, the father of the twins indicates that at numerous times through the pregnancy the mother had felt she was having twins and if they knew they were expecting twins they would not have proceeded with a homebirth," AHPRA was quoted as saying.
"Despite being alerted to the mother's condition and/or feelings that she may have been carrying twins, the practitioner did not undertake any further investigations."
Former midwife Martina Gorner (left) and the mother with her twin boys. Photo / Facebook / Ten Moons - Homebirth Services Melbourne
After more than three months of waiting for an outcome to the investigation, Gorner wrote a letter to the AHPRA saying she's resigning and claims she has been unfairly targeted by the medical establishment for years.
She wrote: "I have received nine AHPRA notifications over the last five years. None were made by clients, their partners or their family members.
"Over the last few years I have complied with every single request that AHPRA has put forward to me. I have passed the Private Practice Midwives Audit and even underwent a one day Performance Assessment in June 2018.
"The outcome of this assessment determined that I am safe to practice as an independent practitioner in the community.
"I support women's choices and I do not believe that abandoning women is ethical, responsible or respectful at such a vulnerable time in their lives."
In a separate Facebook post last week, Gorner revealed more details of the mother's birth, saying the mum didn't know the exact due date because she had still been breastfeeding her toddler when she fell pregnant and had not been menstruating.
She explained the mum had been measuring at 38 weeks and it was not known she was having a premature labour.
Gorner also consulted with an obstetrician mid-pregnancy, who hadn't detected any signs of twins.
The incident has sparked debate between parents around the world, with some accusing the company and midwife of negligence while others have defended her and the mother for choosing a natural birth at home.
A petition has been signed defending Gorner, with more than 36,000 signatures to date.
The petition, titled "Mothers have the right to a safe natural birth of their choice", called her suspension an "outrageous tragedy".
It said: "This birth, unfortunately, had terrible implications for Martina, one of the attending midwives, because when mum brought her happy and healthy babies in for a check-up, a hospital staff member made a complaint and Martina was suspended.
"This, many of us feel, is an outrageous tragedy."
