CANBERRA – Doctors will have Labor’s backing when it comes to requests regarding the treatment of asylum seekers in offshore detention centres, Australia’s Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says.

Doctors currently hold concerns for three heavily pregnant women on Nauru, and are calling for them to be transferred to Australia to give birth.

Shorten stopped short of referring to a particular case when asked about the women, telling reporters that his party would follow the medical advice when it came to the “safety of people”.

“The medical advice is what matters here, nothing else,” he said.

“If the doctors say it’s safe to be in one place or it’s better to be in another place, we will back the medical treatment, the priorities of that and the advice of the doctors.”

His comments follow reports that doctors are concerned for the welfare of a diabetic Kurdish woman on Nauru, who is 40 weeks pregnant.

The husband of the 34-year-old woman, Rashid, told the ABC that medical advice given to the couple on Nauru had been inconsistent.

“They checked her stomach three times recently,” he said. They are really different in what they tell us. They can’t make a decision about her birthing.”

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians has called on the Turnbull Government to bring the woman to Australia, with paediatrics and child health division president Dr Nicki Murdock saying an immediate transfer should take place.

“Any mother likely to deliver a baby needing more than the most basic level of care must be transferred to Australia,” she said.

Her request has been backed by the Greens.

Green’s Senator Sarah Hanson-Young told the ABC that there were at least three heavily pregnant women who should be brought to Australia for treatment.

“The Immigration Department has been scrambling to find an Australian specialist who will go and treat these women on Nauru,” she said.

“All of the specialists know that simply the safest option is to bring the women to Australia.”

Neonatal specialist Dr Andrew Watkins told the ABC he had been approached on social media site LinkedIn and asked if he could travel to Nauru to treat at least one of the women.

He turned down the request as he felt the pregnant woman should be transferred to Australia.

Dr Watkins said it was outrageous the woman has not been flown to Australia.

Australasia’s largest specialist medical college, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, has joined the call for the woman to be transferred to Australia.

The College said Canberra needs to act quickly and ensure the birth takes place in Australia where appropriate health care can be provided.

Earlier the Refugee Action Coalition called on the Australia Immigration and Border Department to stop putting the lives of baby and mother at risk.

A spokesperson for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said various medical providers were contracted to provide services to asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru.

They further stated that “most” women from a group of pregnant transferee and refugee women on Nauru, who had previously refused appropriate medical assistance, were now engaging with health service providers.

“This individual is now fully engaged with primary and specialist health care practitioners,” the spokesperson said. “All appropriate support is being provided to this woman.”

- ABC