Maternity crisis: pregnant women left in despair as facilities disappear in regional Australia

‘I didn’t think this was the way it was going to go’: Gladstone resident Jade van Krimpen is 33 weeks pregnant and has no idea where she is going to give birth. Photograph: Diane Armstrong/The Guardian

Jade van Krimpen is 34 weeks pregnant with her third child and at this point she has no idea where it will be born. She is in Gladstone, Queensland, where the hospital has been on a birthing bypass for months because of staff shortages.

Shortages of midwives and obstetricians in rural and regional Australia have forced maternity units to close or reduce services, leaving women facing the prospect of having to drive long distances, juggle hotels, and other children and partners just to find a safe place to give birth.