Mums panic as midwife crisis grows
The joy of finding out they are pregnant is quickly being replaced with panic as expectant mums scramble to secure a midwife amid a national shortage.
While shortages have been projected in several parts of the country, issues in Hutt Valley have been in the spotlight recently, following the release of a wide-ranging external review of the Hutt Valley District Health Board’s women’s health services that outlined ‘‘a chronic workforce deficiency’’.
Mum Meg Waghorn, who gave birth to her second child eight weeks ago, was one of the lucky ones who was able to secure a lead maternity carer (LMC) – but only because of quick thinking.
‘‘Honestly, as soon as I got a positive pregnancy test, I reached out to my old
LMC and asked for a recommendation ... I asked: should I wait a week or so? and she said: definitely not, you need to contact someone now.’’
The situation – described as being ‘‘pretty much at crisis point’’ by Hutt South MP Chris Bishop – means that by the end of the year there may be as few as 20 LMCs in the area. Immigration NZ has midwives on two of its skill shortage lists.
Following a letter from Waghorn, in her role as Lower Hutt Parents Centre secretary, expressing concern about the situation, Labour MP Ginny Andersen has organised a meeting with Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter for later this month.
Andersen, who has twice given birth at Hutt Hospital, said it was important to get the centre’s concerns in front of the Government as soon as possible and begin working out a plan of attack.
‘‘There has been an increase in wages [for midwives] ... but there are also questions that need to be raised about how they are funded.’’
For Chloe Wright, founder of Mothers Matter and the woman behind Lower Hutt’s Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre, the staffing situation was concerning.
‘‘We are seeing time and again,
mothers and babies in danger because they are being pushed out of the hospital doors, fearful, lonely and confused. We need to take this seriously before there is more harm done.’’ Te Awakairangi is the third facility opened by Birthing Centre Ltd. The centres specialise in midwife-led vaginal births that avoid medical intervention. Wright had fielded calls from women ‘‘in tears’’ struggling to find an LMC, particularly during the traditionally busy end-of-the year period. ‘‘Talking to young women, they often have no idea, they just assume someone will be available but that is a particular time of the year when the DHBs are in crisis also.’’
If a pregnant woman was unable to find an LMC, she would have to go to a hospital. An LMC was a requirement of the birthing centre. Also, the pregnancy had to be considered low-risk. Wright, through her Mothers Matter campaign, hoped to pressure the Government into establishing a ringfenced national fund, managed by the Ministry of Health, to support a mother’s right to receive the appropriate amount of postnatal care and support at the facility of her choice, regardless of the type of birth she has had.
When it comes to having a child there are things that I believe are unavoidable; that the birth will likely be painful and that having a sprog begins a lifetime of responsibility. It’s not those things that scare me.
What does scare me is the uncertainty around the level of care pregnant women receive in New Zealand and the fact that it may very well get worse before it gets better.
Full disclosure: I’m not pregnant and I’m not planning to be any time soon.
However, I am a healthy woman with a partner and aspirations of one day being a mother.
That’s why recent reporting on severe midwife shortages in the Hutt Valley and New Zealand more generally have knocked me for six.
Visibly stressed midwives on hospital wards, active complaint investigations by the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) and worryingly high caesarean section rates should not be the norm and yet they appear to be.
In the past week of reporting on the situation at Hutt Valley District Health Board, I’ve heard stories of women being rushed out of hospital after a c-section, women in labour told the birth couldn’t continue due to a ward being short-staffed.
Simply put, it’s not good enough. Serious doubts about the Hutt Valley service were revealed in July, with the results of a wide-ranging external review.
It outlined ‘‘a chronic workforce deficiency’’ which to those in the know was no surprise but questions remain about what’s being done to remedy the situation.
That report was finished in November but it took until June for the DHB to accept 70 of its recommendations – including addressing staff shortages and renovating the ward – it wasn’t released publicly till July and only now, in September, is it beginning to get traction.
MPs from the Hutt Valley along with Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter have vowed to get involved and figure this out.
I’m not holding my breath for a quick fix but I will be crossing my legs.