The photography fi eld trips will make you see the Outback like neve

By Celeste Lustosa

Even though Roxby Downs has one of the highest birth rates in Australia, mothers have to travel to deliver

their babies because there are no pre-natal facilities in town.

While this isn’t new, the inconvenience it has been causing to local parents is well known.

How dangerous can it be for newborn baby to travel?

And why is it that babies can’t be born safely in town?

There have been calls in the past for an ob-stetrics service to be included at the Roxby Downs Hospital and those calls are mounting as the high cost of delivering babies out of the area and the disruption caused to families takes its toll.

Leah and Barry Traeger from Andamooka know exactly what it’s like not to have the proper pre-natal facility there or in Roxby Downs, as their baby girl Jarja was born in the bathroom of their home.

“I was having tummy pains and the doc-tor sent me home saying I only had a urine infection but the truth is that I was in labour already,” says Leah.

The brave mother had to deliver her own baby without the proper hospital facilities for mother and child.

“I didn’t really understand what was hap-pening until after a while and I didn’t know what to do.

“So, I called my husband and he helped me out, but neither of us knew what we should do and we were really scared we could lose our baby any moment.

“We just knew we had to keep going.”Baby Jarja was born prematurely at 28 weeks

and needed special care even in a proper hos-pital.

“She got very cold when she was born and had to be monitored and have special care at the hospital for nearly two months.”

According to Leah, after all the stress of delivering the baby herself, she had to deal with another inconvenience caused by not having the proper facilities in town.

“Because we had to stay in hospital for so long, my husband was back and forward to Adelaide all the time, because although he wanted to be there with us, he had to work.

“I have been away from my husband before, because of work, but not having him next to me right after Jarja was born was one of the worst moments in my life. Whenever he had to come to Roxby I was a mess.”

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Seeing the outback gwith your own le

By Celeste Lustosa

The Red Earth Festivpresents Dawn and NighPhotography Field Trips

Roxby Downs on August 22nand 26th.

This is a unique opportunitto see the outback through yoown camera lens with the help photography experts.

“These fi eld trips will happen the Arid Recovery reserve so it’sgreat chance to see an interestinpart of our environment and alsget tips and some training on hoto take photos,” said photographJohn Warneke, who is giving thworkshop.

On August 22 you can be paof the Dawn Photography FieTrip and see and capture the beof what the outback has to off e“On this trip people can expect tsee and take photos of the trackplants, sunrise, landscape anmaybe some animals.”

The Night Photography FieTrip happens on August 26 andwill be a once in a lifetime oppotunity to photograph the rare burowing Bettong at Arid Recoveryviewing hide. “These fi eld trips agood so you can learn how to gthe best out of a shot and the nig

Call for obstetrics service in