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Maternity care more accessible

Louisa Steyl

Rural Women New Zealand and the New Zealand College of Midwives have stepped in to help Tokanui mums who were making 90-minute round trips for maternity care.

With no midwife in the community in the southern Catlins, mums had to take a 60km drive into Invercargill for their perinatal check-ups.

Tokanui Rural Women’s member Alison Thomas said this was a hard ask for new mums: ‘‘It’s not an easy thing in winter to be wrapping a baby up and pack everyone in the car, if they have other children. [AND] not everyone had the means to be going in and out.’’

After hearing of the challenges young mums in their community were facing; Thomas wrote to Health Minister Andrew Little, so no young women had to speak out on their own, she said.

‘‘We thought we could be a voice for them.’’

In her letter, Thomas suggested a shared model of care for rural communities whereby mums could go to their local general practice for some check-ups.

‘‘This general lack of postnatal care will cause increased complications and poorer health outcomes for women, their babies, and whānau. Post code healthcare is totally unacceptable,’’ Thomas wrote.

After hearing of the letter, the New Zealand College of Midwives are helping arrange that nearby midwives help serve Tokanui mums.

College of Midwives chief executive Alison Eddy said regional representatives would be working with mums directly.

Midwives were funded to offer up to five post-natal visits at home, even to rural mums, she said – but the reality of workforce pressures and national midwife shortages meant some midwives would struggle to find the time to travel.

Access was a big challenge for rural women, Eddy said.

She invited anyone who was struggling with access to maternity care to contact the college, who could help them find a solution in real time.

Thomas’ letter was sent to Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall, who is responsible for maternity oversight.

A spokesperson for the minister’s office said she would respond to Thomas directly.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said midwives were reimbursed for travel costs, based on a women’s location.

Changes to the Primary Maternity Services Notice – the mechanism by which midwives were paid – would be implemented on November, 29 to distribute an additional $6 million for the care of women and whānau in rural areas, the spokesperson said. Budget 2020 also allocated $60m over four years to support community maternity initiatives arising from the Health and Disability System

Review recommendations, the spokesperson.

‘‘It is too early in the reform process for the Ministry to comment on what may change for rural mums as a result of the health reforms.’’

Rural Women NZ South Island board member Sharron Davie-Martin, who overseas the health portfolio, said rural families were bearing the brunt of labour shortages across the board.

‘‘No matter where you look, rural families are missing out,’’ she said.

Having to travel for maternity care put both mums and babies at risk, Davie-Martin said.

‘‘We’ve always been told we shouldn’t put a baby in a car and travel long distances.’’

Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds also came out in support of Tokanui mothers, saying it was yet another example of inequitable health services for Southland people.

‘‘The Government must open up our borders and fast-track residency for more skilled health workers. We clearly don’t have the midwives in New Zealand to meet our needs, and we must urgently access overseas-trained health workers to prevent our Southern maternity system going into collapse,’’ she said.

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2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

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