Thursday 20 October 2022Health news3 minutes to read
Changes to Buller Health’s maternity services will be introduced next week so hapū māmā (pregnant women) living in Buller will continue to have access to pre and post-natal care while Te Whatu Ora Te Tai o Poutini West Coast looks to recruit a permanent midwife.
Norma Campbell, Executive Director – Midwifery and Maternity Services, Te Whatu Ora Te Tai o Poutini West Coast and Waitaha Canterbury says “with our current locum midwife leaving at the start of next week, we are now widening our search for a suitable replacement, while at the same time working to ensure our hapū māmā in Buller have ongoing and consistent access to care.”
“We acknowledge and thank both our current midwife and also the locums who over the last year have provided such fantastic support to our expectant mums. But with these staff moving on, we are firmly focused on how we can best support our hapū māmā who’ve said that they would like to see more consistency in their care.
“The good news is that a midwife who resides in Buller is returning to work and her primary focus will be postnatal care. We know who is hapū and we have asked our Greymouth and Northern-based Lead Maternity Carers (LMCs) about registering the 15 māmā who are due between now and May 2023. This will mean that they can meet the midwife or her backup who will be at their birth. We are supporting these midwives with additional resource to do this and are very grateful to them.”
“We will be contacting all hapū māmā to arrange appointments to continue their pregnancy care. Clinics will be held in Buller Health’s Kawatiri maternity unit every Wednesday starting next week. If needed, hapū māmā can also arrange to pop in and be assessed on these clinic days.”
“We have listened to our hapū māmā about their need for consistency of care and think that these changes will give them more clarity about who will attend their birth, provide postnatal care and whilst hapū who will consistently on a set day and time be in Westport for antenatal visits.
“An increasing number of hapū māmā in Buller are opting to birth at Te Nīkau Hospital’s maternity unit and for safety reasons this will be the only option available for hapū māmā from Buller until we have recruited an additional midwife. If anyone is concerned about their pregnancy, they can ring Te Nīkau Hospital’s maternity team for advice 24/7 on 03 769 7803. If it is an emergency, please phone 111 immediately.
“It is great to see progress being made on Te Rau Kawakawa – our new Buller Health facility, and very shortly we will have modern purpose-designed facilities for our hapū māmā and their pēpi in Westport,” says Ms Campbell.
ENDS
Page last updated: 20 October 2022
Is this page useful?