A group of parents claim they are being prevented from having home births because of Bermuda Medical Council’s misinterpretation of a 65-year-old law.

The parents issued a press statement yesterday claiming they’d had the “rug pulled out from under them” just two weeks before the first mother in the group is due to give birth.

They visited the office of Chief Medical Officer Cheryl Peek-Ball yesterday afternoon to hand over letters of concern after, they alleged, the Medical Council refused to provide the necessary paperwork for their overseas midwives to get immigration approval.

The statement read: “A group of parents who have been responsibly planning their home births for the last seven months have had the rug pulled out from under them with less than two weeks before the first mother is due.

“The issue has arisen due to the Bermuda Medical Council’s misinterpretation of the Midwives Act 1949 regarding registered midwives needing supervision by a medical practitioner.

“The former supportive medical practitioner resigned due to his private practice getting too busy and no other practitioner has been found to take over for him.

“The Medical Council are refusing to provide the necessary paperwork that would complete the immigration process for parents to have their midwives on Island for their births until a supportive medical practitioner is found as a replacement.

“The parent stakeholders feel that home birth is a personal, private and a safe decision and that all women in Bermuda already have a medical practitioner overseeing their pregnancy and health in the form of one of the seven obstetricians.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said last night that the letters had been received and a meeting with the families would follow shortly to clarify the situation.

She said it was “incorrect” to accuse the Medical Council of misinterpreting the law.

“The Bermuda Medical Council is applying the same interpretation as it always did. The change is in the availability of supervising physicians for midwives flying in for deliveries from overseas.

“Private obstetricians are not responsible for the care of women labouring at home — and previously unknown to them — until they appear in hospital and so it is inaccurate to consider the obstetricians to be overseeing the pregnancy care for these individuals.”

The spokeswoman added: “The Department of Health has long supported a woman’s right to choose the environment in which she delivers a child. Constraints on this choice are placed only in the interest of safety and health for mother and baby.

“Birth can be safe in both home and healthcare settings as long as certain conditions are met. One of the most important of these conditions is that the birth is attended by a trained healthcare professional; that is, a midwife or physician experienced in home deliveries.

“International standards support this minimal requirement to assure that both mother and baby remain healthy, even in the face of birth complications.

“Bermuda currently boasts an excellent safety record with regard to maternal-child health, in large part due to the calibre of our healthcare professionals and to the prenatal care most women receive.

“The Midwives Act 1949 requires that all births be attended by a registered midwife or registered physician. This was the standard in 1949 and is even more so a minimum standard in 2014. Conditions must be put in place to assure that this safe provision exists for all unborn children. The Department of Health is currently working to do this.”

It was not possible to reach Medical Council president George Shaw yesterday.