Midwives, mums want service to stay
Petition launched to save Waih¯ı’s birthing centre
Anger is growing in the Bay of Plenty, according to local midwives, with only six weeks to go until the Waih¯ı Lifecare Birthing Centre is due to close.
HC Post reported on the centre’s closure last week. Its managing director Steven Wallace said: “Over the last five years, along with the rest of New Zealand, Waih¯ı has been affected by the lack of independent midwives/ community LMCS [lead maternity carers] working in the local region.”
Wallace added that in his view, the midwife profession in New Zealand had become unattractive, with many choosing to work offshore.
A release from a PR firm representing a collective of Coromandel-based midwives and mothers said the centre’s closure brought up logistical and financial implications for pregnant people.
“Women will no longer be able to give birth at the Waih¯ı primary unit (smaller, more homely environment) have a postnatal stay there and instead will have to travel to Tauranga or Waikato.”
Waih¯ı midwife Belinda Beetham said she and her colleagues are receiving a large number of calls every day from women concerned about the closure.
“Some from places like Whangamata¯ are worried about how they will afford to travel the two hours through the Karangahake
Gorge up to two times a week for antenatal checks and to give birth. And that gorge can often be closed in winter. Some of our mamas don’t have cars; they have relied on
community-based services and they have no idea what they are going to do,” she said. “Some are changing their birth plan and are choosing a home birth.
“This will put greater pressure on the hospital system, which is already stressed. Where will women go for post-natal care? Primary birthing units are calmer, quieter and, to be frank, cheaper than the big hospitals. They’re usually closer to where women live so friends and family can support and visit a woman after she has had a baby. It’s terribly upsetting. Women are being let down once again with maternity choices being removed and barriers going up,” she says.
Waih¯ı’s birthing centre has been open for 80 years and around 70 women used the post-natal service last year.
Te Whatu Ora has said a shortage of midwives is the reason for the closure.
“Workforce challenges have been regularly signalled by us, to various governments and health bureaucrats for about a decade now — this has not happened overnight,” says Beetham. “We believe these current
challenges can be addressed so primary maternity services are not cut. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. What could be more important than providing our babies with the best start in life and supporting mamas on their maternity journey? Nothing.”
She adds the announcement by the National Party yesterday about extending post-natal stays without any acknowledgment of the number of maternity beds needed shows politicians just don’t get it.
“How’s that going to work if these essential primary units keep closing? If you’re going to announce longer post-natal stays then thought must be given to how that’s going to happen.”
A petition to save Waih¯ı’s birthing unit and a second petition to save the Huntly Birthcare unit, due to close at the end of the month, is available at change.org.
Te Whatu Ora has been approached for comment. It did not respond to HC Post inquiries last week about the closure.