ZB ZB
Live now
Start time
Playing for
End time
Listen live
Listen to NAME OF STATION
Up next
Listen live on
ZB

Birthing unit closures leaving pregnant mothers stranded at Christmas

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Mon, 23 Dec 2019, 10:48AM
(Photo / File)

Birthing unit closures leaving pregnant mothers stranded at Christmas

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Mon, 23 Dec 2019, 10:48AM

The closure of several maternity units around the country has left many heavily pregnant mothers stranded over the Christmas break.

The blame has been pointed at a lack of funding from DHBs, overworked staff and not enough midwives on call over the holiday period.

Opotiki midwife Lisa Kelly told Tim Dower the birthing centre there has been closed for three months.

"Some of our women live two and a half hours drive away from the birthing unit in Opotiki. They'll have to travel another 40 minutes to get to the main hospital in Whakatane. It's put mums and babies at risk, and is really unacceptable."

She says they've had a few close calls with women in town needing to get to Whakatane to give birth.

"We ended up leaving Opotiki and we actually got police escorted because we were driving that fast for the last 30 minutes of the journey. We got to the hospital and the baby was born within 10 minutes."

 

 

 

 

Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you