From July next year employing an independent midwife will become illegal and any midwife who defies the law will be issued with a $30,000 fine.

Birth doula and co-convener of the Central West chapter of Joyous Birth, Danielle Martin, will be among several people from Orange who will join protesters from throughout the world and march on Parliament House on September 7 demanding the government rethink the legislation.

“We want to keep home birth as a viable option,” said Ms Martin.

“This new legislation will effectively make home birth illegal and limit women’s options when it comes to their choice of a care provider during birth.

“This is also an issue of women’s rights; you don’t have to agree or disagree with home birth but the fact is that women and families should have every option available to them.”

The proposed legislation has resulted from indemnity insurance being unavailable for midwives.

Ms Martin says the lack of insurance coverage is a “numbers game” and women should not suffer because of it.

“Home births are absolutely safe and there are many studies that suggest that they are even safer than hospital births,” she said.

Ms Martin believes even if the changes come into play there will still be people who will choose to have a home birth with the assistance of a midwife while others will chose to “free birth” and deliver their baby without medical assistance.

Similar to anti-abortion legislation, Ms Martin said criminalising a midwife’s attendance at a home birth would push the practice underground.