Hamish Bidwell is shocked at the review of the maternity services within Hawke's Bay District Health Board (HBDHB). Photo / Paul Taylor
Hamish Bidwell is shocked at the review of the maternity services within Hawke's Bay District Health Board (HBDHB). Photo / Paul Taylor
I've sat on this topic for a while now.
Partly out of shock and partly disbelief.
A review, as some of you will remember, of maternity services within Hawke's Bay District Health Board (HBDHB) facilities found institutional racism rife to the point where Maori mothers were "actively fearful of fallingpregnant again".
Such was the lack of care these women received and disrespect shown to them and their families that they were "traumatised" by the experience.
It appalled me too, given how vulnerable women and their babies are in these situations. If ever support was critical, it's during the whole birthing experience.
I can only speak as a father but, beyond the joy that your partner and child are well, comes the shocking realisation that I am responsible for the tiny life I now hold in my hands.
When you can barely look after yourself, advice and care from experts in maternity provide a huge amount of comfort.
Antenatal classes are well and good, but nothing prepares you for the reality that suddenly hits you.
So I was shocked, and saddened too, to read that many Māori parents have endured unhappy experiences in HBDHB maternity wards.
The review, entitled "Hau Te Kura - Nurturing our treasures'', was also critical of tokenistic attempts, or non-attempts as the case may be, to recognise Māori culture, judgments cast in the direction of fathers and a general air of white privilege.
Hamish Bidwell. Photo/ Warren Buckland
I've referred to shock quite a lot here but, again, those assertions are shocking. They don't tally with the New Zealand I know and the enormous work most institutions, especially Government-funded ones, have done around cultural sensitivity.
I can't think of a time in our history where, social media aside, we've been more tolerant and more aware that one size doesn't fit all. We all do our best to recognise each other's varying needs and to respect and cater for them accordingly.
Or so I thought.
I mean that's a hellishly damning review of maternity services, if true.
That's the journalist coming out in me, unfortunately.
We tend to be sceptics by nature or learn to be sceptical, the more people we meet and the more stories we hear and the more emails that hit our inbox.
That's not cynical, mind, but sceptical.
I've come across a lot of people who want something to be true or believe something to be true. Often, those things might even be a little bit true.
Sometimes they're not, though, no matter how much the person might wish they were, so I've been incredibly torn over this review into maternity services.
Its findings - and I'll use that word again - shocked me. It made me think this can't possibly be New Zealand and, if it is, something drastic has to happen to change it.
It's not remotely good enough for any woman and any family to be traumatised by the maternity care they receive.
Yes, sometimes traumatic things happen around the actual birth of a child, but no-one should be fearful of how they'll be emotionally treated before, during and afterwards.
