AN Ōpōtiki mother who gave birth on the road after going into premature labour more than 100 kilometres from home, feels let down – and not for the first time – by an 0800 number that should have connected her with help.

The woman, who does not want to be named, was on her way home from Napier with family at the end of January when she went into labour.

“We were near Murupara when I felt a contraction and baby was born as we were driving; I was sitting in the front passenger seat,” she said.

“She was born three weeks early.”

Unsure what to do, they called an 0800 number for expectant mothers that should have connected her with midwife help and birthing guidance through Whakatāne Hospital.

However, no-one answered.

“I think we needed guidance,” she said. “The guidance could have been what my next step should have been, like maybe instead of driving home, trying to get in contact with my doctor for advice.”

When she was unable to get through on the freephone number, she called Ōpōtiki GP Peter Conolly for help, and he met the family when they returned to town.

“I waited until the next working day to go into the after-hours (Medical Hub) but there was no-one there,” she said.

Opening hours at the Medical Hub, which was previously open until 8pm, have been reduced and it is now open only for two hours in the evening.

On her fourth visit to the clinic, she was spotted by a midwife who was waiting for a client.

That midwife contacted the on-call midwife Lisa Kelly.

“So, baby and I didn’t really get sighted until three days later.”

This was not the first time the woman had felt let down by the 0800 service.

During a previous pregnancy, her second, she had complications and called the number the help.

“Instead of putting me through to a midwife, they were sending paramedics over from Whakatāne,” she said. “But I ended up hanging up on them because I had baby before they arrived.”

Knowing that her midwife, whose direct number she was not supposed to have, lived just down the road, she contacted her via Facebook.

“She came over straight away, getting here before the paramedics, and did her check.”

The reduced after-hours service at the Medical Hub further concerns the woman because two of her children are asthmatics – and their asthma can sometimes be severe.

“I rely on the after-hours service, because my children have respiratory problems,” she said.

“And now, we don’t know how we can get that help with them being open only two hours.”