Media release from Hawke's Bay DHB
 
Hawke's Bay District Health Board wants to develop a new maternity hub on site at Hawke's Bay Hospital so women can have their babies in a separate low risk birthing unit but be close to specialist services should they need it.
 
Consultation with the public and key stakeholders will begin this week over proposed changes to maternity services offered by the district health board.
 
Chief executive Kevin Snee said maternity services had not been reviewed for many years and it was time to look at what maternity services were offered, where they needed to be enhanced, what services were and were not being used and what would be sustainable into the future.
 
Dr Snee said he and the board favoured a proposal which would see a new maternity hub developed that offered low risk maternity services from a separate stand alone low risk unit as well as the current secondary care services from Hawke's Bay Hospital's maternity unit Ata Rangi.
 
"Women have been choosing to deliver their babies at Hawke's Bay Hospital - it's not tailored for low risk births and we would like to do that better by developing a separate unit but have the facility close to specialist services like operating theatres and the special care baby unit should they be needed.
 
"This proposal would mean we would close the inpatient maternity beds in Napier, which aren't well used now with less then ten percent of Napier women choosing to have their babies there.
 
"If the public agreed with us we would also like to develop a pregnancy and maternity support centre at the Napier Health Centre which would provide a venue for meetings, pregnancy education, breastfeeding support and updated maternity information."
 
The district health board also favoured an option to develop a pregnancy and support centre in Central Hawke's Bay.  Dr Snee said there was currently no support centre for pregnant women or those who have recently had a baby in Central Hawke's Bay and the DHB's proposal favoured that.
 
For Wairoa women the district health board favoured a proposal to enhance maternity care either through the hospital or for it to be more community led. The community needs to tell us what would encourage more people to have their babies in Wairoa so we hope consultation will do that.
 
"We want to deliver the right care from the right people from the right place, and ideally we favour the option of developing a new maternity hub for women to use from throughout the distinct.
 
"It's up to the public to tell us if they agree." Dr Snee said.
 
Consultation documents and more information is available on the DHB's website www.hawkesbay.health.nz .
 
Meetings will be held throughout the region with dates advertised in local newspapers. Special meetings can also be arranged with the DHB if people would like further information until November 21.