Whakatāne Hospital's maternity service was downgraded to a primary birth unit in mid-January. (File photo) Photo: Screenshot / Google
- 86 births at Whakatāne Hospital in the first eight months of the year, compared with 650 a year when it had obstetric services
- One in three transfers to Tauranga were emergencies
- Midwives say its put huge stress on them and whānau
- Health NZ is recruiting specialists and plans to restart services at Whakatāne Hospital early next year
With no obstetricians left in Eastern Bay of Plenty, hundreds of pregnant women have been forced to travel to Tauranga Hospital to give birth this year - a third of them due to emergency situations.
Data obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act shows there were just 86 babies born at Whakatāne Hospital since it lost its specialist services in January, compared with 650 births the year before.
Health NZ said it was on track to restore full obstetric and gynaecology services to Whakatāne by April next year, but midwives have said the lack of back-up continues to put extra pressure on them and whānau across the region.
Ōpōtiki based midwife Kellee Moore said for some clients, it was more than three hours to get to Tauranga by road - a fact that was always on her mind when dealing with situations like a woman with a bleed at 35 weeks.
"I tried to ring the obstetrician but they were in theatre. They said ring back in 20 minutes. Those are the sorts of stresses where I'm like 'Is this baby going to be okay?'"
On one emergency dash to Tauranga, she had to ask the ambulance driver to pull over every 15 to 30 minutes to check the woman's dangerously high blood pressure, because the transfer ambulance was not set up for proper clinical monitoring, she said.
"This is not okay. It's not good enough that we use a transfer ambulance - really I should have had a proper ambulance to have the facilities to monitor this lady properly. I had a nurse with me to help, but I'm pretty much solely responsible for this lady whether she will have an eclamptic seizure or not."
Hundreds giving birth far from home
Whakatāne Hospital's maternity service was downgraded to a primary birth unit in mid-January after four of its five obstetricians resigned in a matter of months.
Since then, anyone with a high-risk pregnancy, or needing a caesarean or induction, must go elsewhere.
Data from an OIA showed by mid-August, 240 East Coast babies had been born in Tauranga - nearly 2.5 times the number born in Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki.
One in three (81) were emergency transfers: 77 taken by ambulance to Tauranga and four by helicopter.
Moore said Tauranga Hospital midwives were stretched as well - but it was not always possible for East Coast midwives to attend their clients' births.
"If we have ladies in our own community who go into labour, and we're in Tauranga providing care - who looks after our women back home? There's no-one."
Another client made a seven-hour round trip in a day to see a specialist in Tauranga, she said.
She was given the all-clear, but two days later, needed an emergency transfer when she suddenly went into labour.
"Those are horrendous as well. Trying to reassure a mum in full-blown labour in an ambulance it's like a two hour ride or even more, it's just the impact on me has been quite emotional."
Post-natal care was also complicated by distance.
"In the first few months, I had so many women who had c-sections. I think I counted four or five of them who ended up with infections post c-section. They investigated it but there was no outcome to say why this was happening.
"One time I had to advocate for my lady to stay in hospital until she was comfortable to go home. Her wound kept opening up, and I was like 'What's happening? This not okay'. They wanted to send her home, and I was like 'No, she needs to be reviewed'."
Another Ōpōtiki midwife, Lisa Kelly, said Tauranga Hospital was discharging some East Coast women too early because it was overloaded.
East Coast women were often sent to Tauranga Hospita to give birth in 2025. (File photo) Photo: RNZ
While new mums were given the option of transferring to Whakatāne Hospital, most opted to go straight home.
"They're only just 24 hours post caesarean section and they're all the way down the coast, and that's another three hours back to Tauranga if complications post surgery, which can happen."
Health NZ was providing petrol, food and accommodation vouchers, but they were difficult to organise in an emergency, along with childcare and all the other things that need to be sorted, she said.
"It's a huge distance, especially if you're living right down the coast - just one way can be a three-hour drive for our whānau.
"So there's still be a lot of anxiety for our whānau planning to birth in Tauranga. You can plan it, but things happen unexpectedly."
Her iwi-based health service Te Ao Hou Trust has some funding to help support the 40 to 50 women in the district who did not have their own lead maternity carers in the postnatal period, - but that due to run out in January, and women will still have to travel to Tauranga until March or April.
"On a positive note, we've had a real surge in the home-birth rate, which is awesome," Kelly said.
"The back up is a bit scarce, but I'm here to provide the care that the whānau want, and if they want to stay home to birth their babies then I'm here to support that."
Health NZ responds
Te Manawa Taki / Midland Region executive director Cath Cronin said travel to Tauranga Hospital could be difficult for mothers and whānau.
"We want to acknowledge the significant impact this situation has had on families and staff across the Bay of Plenty.
"We are continuing to work with the midwifery teams across community, primary and secondary care settings during this challenging time."
Health NZ was holding staff engagement workshops for all midwives working in community and hospitals, and the midwifery leadership team was always "happy to discuss specific patient queries from midwives".
"We've made good progress with four senior medical officers recruited from overseas, and we remain on track to resume full secondary Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) services at Whakatāne Hospital by March/April 2026," she said.
One specialist was already working under supervision at Tauranga Hospital, another was due to start this month, and two others arrive early next year, while Health NZ continued to recruit for a fifth doctor.
Meanwhile, there was a dedicated 24/7 ambulance to travel from Whakatāne to Tauranga to give birth, and whānau are continuing to receive up-front assistance with their food, accommodation, and transport.
She confirmed there had been a review of infections following caesarean sections earlier this year, but it did not find "any difference in rates or factors related to the change in maternity care provision this year".
"However the team took this opportunity to review and standardise current practice and guidelines around infection control."
Health NZ's focus remained on "achieving the best possible outcomes for patients, including mothers and their whānau who are currently having to travel further than they would normally".
Locals wait and worry
More than 6500 people signed a petition to Parliament earlier this year, calling for the urgent restoration of obstetric and gynaecology services at Whakatāne Hospital.
Its organiser, Kat Walsh, said while there was hope on the horizon, locals were worried how long it was going to take to catch up on the gynaecology wait list.
"There are huge concerns in our community that is a sign of things to come, that our hospital is getting left behind I guess by the centralisation of services and the management of our health services. We're getting left behind because we're just a little hospital out in regional Bay of Plenty or wherever."
Birth could be unpredictable, she said, as someone who needed an emergency transfer in labour herself.
"But the thing that shouldn't out of control is our health system. We should be able to rely on our health system to provide us some security, safety and good quality treatment in that moment when you're accepting your birth plan might not be in your control."
Meanwhile, back in Ōpōtiki, Moore is getting a six-week break - but only because she has broken her arm.
She had to call on the core midwifery team at Health NZ to pick up her caseload because all the community midwives were overloaded.
"That's been hard.
"But not having to answer my phone has just been a bit of relief. I mean we're trying to earn a living, but covering for each other, we're having to take on double the caseloads, and double the stress."
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