Birth centre closes despite takeover offer

A Hamilton birth centre owner tried to step in to stop Huntly’s maternity unit closing, and says she’s heartbroken to see it shut.

Huntly’s primary birthing and postnatal unit Birthcare Huntly, along with Waihī’s Lifecare Birthing Centre, announced their plans to shut earlier this year. Evolution Healthcare, the owner of the Huntly centre, told the the Waikato Times in September the closure was a result of staffing shortages and a declining number of parents accessing the services year on year.

Waterford Birth Centre owner Tracey Aubin, who has 20 years’ experience as a midwife, says she approached Te Whatu Ora about the possibility of taking over Huntly’s maternity care unit. She says she was also approached by Evolution Healthcare who offered to gift her the business.

The Waikato Times understands Raukura Hauora o Tainui, which provides kaupapa Māori health and wellbeing services, also contacted Te Whatu Ora about the centre.

But Aubin says things came to a standstill when she told the health authority she was willing to take the business over but only if it was open 24/7.

“It’s only open eight hours, Monday to Friday and I said I just don’t think that’s safe for the wāhine and whānau in that area.”

“They asked me to put together how much funding I would need to do that, which I did, and I emailed them and said I’d be willing to do it.

“I just had really no communication from them after that.

“I had to chase and chase and chase them and they just kind of put it on the back-burner... it just seemed to be really unimportant.”

Aubin said she had delivered babies in Huntly as a lead maternity carer (LMC) and was known to centre’s staff and local midwives.

“They wanted me out there, they knew I was very supportive of the Māori health outcomes in that area and that we would work together very well and we were all emailing Te Whatu Ora and we just got no response.”

Aubin said she had even secured a building close to Huntly to lease but without a commitment from Te Whatu Ora she couldn’t proceed.

Huntly midwife Bernie Miers said the the unit’s closure on Wednesday was devastating but as LMCs they would keep going “because we have to”.

“We are very worried about our mums in the area. It’s going to really impact the care they’re really able to access, being that it just doesn’t exist here any more.

“The community are very devastated, it doesn’t seem to make any sense to us. Clearly it’s a needed unit, we have a big community out here and lots of birthing mums.”

They were trying their best to work with the community to figure out back-ups plans for mums who “simply will not make the trip into Hamilton in time”, Miers said.

Te Whatu Ora Group Manager Regional System Integration for Te Manawa Taki, Lisa Gestro, said in a statment they had worked to explore options for the Huntly centre.

“What is clear through this process, and has been communicated to those providers who had expressed interest in taking on service delivery in Huntly, is that the existing service was no longer aligned to the community’s wants and needs.”