Southern mother gives birth in car park

A baby was born in the car park of the Lumsden maternal and child hub today when the mother's labour progressed so rapidly she could not get inside the hub soon enough.

It is the third emergency birth since the Lumsden Maternity centre was downgraded in April - in May Amanda McIvor gave birth to baby Levi in the back of an ambulance and earlier this month another mother gave birth at the hub.

This morning's delivery again prompted Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker to demand the Government take action and for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to "urgently intervene''.

Mr Walker said had the maternity centre not been downgraded a second midwife would have been on site and that "would have dramatically increased the mother's chances of making it inside to give birth''.

"Within a couple of hours she was also discharged with there no longer being any post-natal care at the maternal and child hub.

"The downgrade of the Lumsden Maternity Centre is resulting in anxious mothers worried about where they will end up giving birth, whether it be in a car park, the side of the road or the primary birthing unit more than an hour away.

"It is not only the physical health and safety of these women that needs to be taken into consideration but also their mental health, as they are being placed under immense stress.''

Mr Walker submitted a petition to the Health Select Committee in November asking for the Southern DHB's decision to downgrade the Lumsden centre be reversed.

The committee was to have announced if it would investigate the decision on Wednesday, but it has been delayed until next week.