A resident new mother is praising the Queenstown maternity service shake-up. Midwives at Lakes District Hospital change to a new system yesterday, working 12-hour shifts to ensure 24-hour-a-day, year-round support for women giving birth in the Wakatipu.
Southern District Health Board midwifery director Jenny Humphries said the new roster system also meant hospital midwives could provide appropriate care for women transferring to Lakes District Hospital after giving birth elsewhere.
''Today is a real celebration for our staff and for local mums and their families,'' Ms Humphries said.
It is also being hailed as a step forward by Frankton woman Monique Cools, whose first child Madison, born three weeks ago in Invercargill, is the last Wakatipu baby cared for under the old system.
''It's good it's available around the clock. [My hospital midwife] said `Call me day or night' and I haven't hesitated to,'' Ms Cools said.
Under the changes, three midwives employed by the hospital have transferred to the new 12-hour roster, and some casual maternity staff have also been recruited to permanent positions to sustain it year-round.
A midwifery co-ordinator is still to be appointed.
The SDHB has simultaneously phased out its involvement with providing lead maternity care (LMC) midwives. That service is now provided independent of the SDHB, although it is supplying information for mothers to contact LMC midwives.
