Women and midwives put at risk
Kathy Forsyth
The decision to downgrade obstetrics and gynaecology services at Whakatāne Hospital has drawn strong criticism from midwives, who warn that the changes put women and midwives at significant risk.
Independent midwife Louise Power, who has worked in the field for 12 years, expressed her heartbreak over the changes.
As someone who specialises in labour and birth, she raised concerns about the potential consequences for women.
Complications can arise unexpectedly, sometimes after birth, and can be life-threatening. “We don’t have two hours to get these women to Tauranga, and that could put them at serious risk. “
She said midwives, who are at the frontline during a birth, would bear the brunt if things go wrong and transport to Tauranga cannot be arranged quickly enough.
“Te Whatu Ora have put all the midwives in Whakatāne at risk.”
Lisa Kelly, a long-serving midwife from Ōpōtiki and the chair of Ngā Maia Māori Midwives, was equally critical of the changes.
Ms Kelly, who also serves as a trustee of the New Zealand College of Midwives and as an adviser to the Ministry of Health for the development of a maternity commissioning framework, said the shift was no surprise but expressed frustration that Te Whatu Ora had not acted sooner to address the issue.
“We could see this coming for a while, but we were only officially told recently that obstetrics and gynaecology services would cease from January.”
She noted that midwives had witnessed the gradual downgrading of services, with specialists unavailable more frequently.
“Te Whatu Ora has known this was coming, and we’re angry that they didn’t take action sooner to secure locums and maintain specialist cover.”
She stressed the severe implications of the change for women in remote areas, especially those coming from as far away as Cape Runaway. “We are now having to plan for emergency transfers, potentially by helicopter, because we can’t afford delays with ambulances driving to Whakatāne and then to Tauranga,” she said.
She also highlighted the devastating impact the changes would have on mothers with planned births, especially those from areas with high deprivation.
“Their choices have been stripped from them. It is shocking really.”
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