There is an end in sight to the ‘long pregnancy’ of a primary birthing unit for Wanaka, with this week's Southern District Health Board’s (SDHB) announcement that it has agreed to establish a birthing unit here.

The decision comes after a long process and much advocacy from local groups, including local Lead Maternity Care (LMC) midwives and the Save Our Wanaka Midwives group. More than 600 submissions were made to the SDHB on the issue.

SDHB board chair Pete Hodgson said approving the Wanaka facility was a recognition of the town’s growing population, long distances from other centres, and the willingness of LMCs in the area to explore new approaches to working to create a sustainable service for the community.

“We thank all the women, whānau and everyone who cares for them, who have contributed to this important discussion, and worked constructively with us on a workable solution,” he said.

A primary birthing unit is equipped for supporting healthy women with no medical complications through labour, birth, and in-patient postnatal care. Wanaka women currently face an hour’s drive to the nearest primary birthing unit (Charlotte Jean Maternity Hospital in Alexandra) or a three and a half hour drive to Dunedin Hospital.

The SDHB has agreed to a two-unit solution for the Central Otago and Wanaka area, with a second unit to be located at Dunstan Hospital in Clyde. The Clyde unit will replace Charlotte Jean Maternity.

There is also a primary birthing unit at Lakes District Hospital in Queenstown.

As well as providing a location for primary birthing and postnatal stays, the new unit will likely perform the function of the existing maternal and child hub, the SDHB said in a statement. 

Wanaka’s maternal and child hub, which houses the LMC midwives, tele-health and rural secondary care clinics, opened at 61 Brownston Street last month - almost two years after the SDHB announced its approval.

During a consultation meeting on the location of a primary birthing unit last July, long term Wanaka midwife Emma Bilous pointed out that Wanaka reached the milestone of 100 births in a year way back in 2003.

“Those babies can be having their own babies now. We do need something to happen,” she said.

During that consultation the SDHB committed to making a decision in October 2020, but delays meant a final options paper was not presented to the board until this month. Meanwhile the SDHB undertook further consultation with midwives across the district, and further analysis on possible models of care for the district.

Today’s decision, pending Ministry of Health approval for capital investment for the build, is a further step towards implementing the SDHB’s Integrated Primary Maternity System of Care, which was launched in 2018.

SDHB covers the largest area of all DHBs, a challenging geography and weather and a relatively small population, Pete said.

“This means we need to face challenging issues around providing services that are sustainable from a population and workforce perspective, but also seek to provide care closer to home. This is especially important in such a critical area as maternity services.”

Even when the birthing unit is established, women in this region will only be able to access secondary and tertiary maternity services (such as epidurals, and C-sections) at Dunedin Hospital.

The SDHB will now develop a business case for funding the primary birthing unit, which it will submit to the Ministry of Health’s capital investment committee. It will also request proposals for service providers for the Wanaka unit.

SDHB primary and population health general manager Mary Cleary Lyons told the Wanaka App last year if a birthing unit was approved for Wanaka, it would take “up to two years” for it to be in place.

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