Women booked to give birth at Auckland Hospital are being told to expect to be sent to Birthcare or home within three to four hours - and encouraged to consider a primary care facility or home birth instead. Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ is sending the official advice to women booked to give birth at the hospital. “Your lead maternity carer (LMC) – either your midwife, obstetrician or GP, has booked you in to birth at Auckland City Hospital,” states the letter from the women’s health team.
“However, if you are well and have a healthy pregnancy, we support your choice to give birth at a primary care facility such as Birthcare or at home. Please discuss this with your LMC. “If your pregnancy is not straight forward or there are complications which may require medical intervention or specialist obstetric or paediatric care, then Auckland City Hospital is the best place for you to give birth.
“If you have your baby at Auckland City Hospital then you will either be discharged home or transferred to Birthcare three to four hours later, or when you and your baby are well.” Like other hospitals, maternity and birthing services at Auckland Hospital have been under sustained pressure, including because of workforce shortages. However, Jenny McDougall, the acting director of women’s health at Te Toka Tumai Auckland (formerly Auckland DHB), said the letter’s advice wasn’t related to resourcing, and discharge timeframes had been standard practice for many years, and weren�.
