Govt to spend extra $103.5m on maternity services

The Government will spend an extra $103.5 million on maternity services over the next four years, Health Minister Tony Ryall announced today.

He said the Government had recognised the need for new mothers to have the option of a longer stay in hospital if they needed extra support, and $38.5 million of the total would be spent on that.

"We have heard from too many new mothers who have felt pressured into going home before they are ready, and those who could benefit from extra support," he said.

The extra funding will also pay for:

* An optional meeting each trimester for at risk mothers, attended by the pregnant woman, their doctor and their lead maternity carer;

* obstetric training or refreshers for GPs who want to return to maternity care;

* meeting the costs from the increase in the number of births each year; and

* fully funding the Plunketline 24 hours telephone advice, as previously announced.

Mr Ryall said longer stays for new mothers would help them establish breast feeding and gain confidence in caring for their babies before going home.

Additional visits to doctors and lead maternity carers for at risk mothers during pregnancy would help encourage better integration with primary health care services and increase support for pregnant women.

The additional visits will cost $9.9 million over four years.

Mr Ryall said GPs who wanted to retrain or refresh their obstetric skills would have access to funded training courses at a cost of $1.1 million over four years.

The aim is to increase the number of GP lead maternity carers.

There is $40 million over four years for maternity services to match the higher birthrate.

- NZPA