Special care unit for sick babies at former Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre in Lower Hutt quietly shelved

• A special care unit for sick babies that was meant to open in mid-2023 has not been delivered.
• Lower Hutt-based Labour list MP Ginny Andersen says a promise to the community has been broken with no explanation.
• New Health Minister Simeon Brown has requested a briefing from Health NZ about the situation.

A special care unit for sick babies in Lower Hutt has been quietly shelved, prompting the new Health Minister to request a briefing about why it has not been delivered.

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora announced in November 2022 that it had leased space at the former Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre.

The purpose-built primary birthing facility had previously been funded through the Wright Family Foundation and closed the year before despite community efforts to save it.

Health NZ said the plan was to repurpose it as the district’s first standalone community-based transitional care unit by mid-2023.

“This unit will enable unwell pēpi and whānau to be supported while transitioning from neonatal intensive or specialist care to primary care. In particular, this will mean Hutt Valley pēpi and parents will not need to stay as long – if at all – far from home in Newtown."

The unit has never opened.

Hutt-based Labour list MP Ginny Andersen says a promise to the community has been broken. Photo / Mike Scott

Hutt-based Labour list MP Ginny Andersen has been trying to get an answer from the Government about the unit for months.

Andersen lodged a series of written parliamentary questions about the centre at the beginning of November including why it was not being used as a special care unit.

Former Health Minister Shane Reti replied: “I am advised that Te Awakairangi Birthing Centre has never been used as a special care unit.”

More questions ensued before Andersen again asked why the centre wasn’t being used as a special care baby unit.

Reti replied in January: “I am advised that more complex neo-natal care will continue to best be provided within a hospital setting.”

Andersen told the Herald it appeared the unit had been shelved.

“They’ve broken a promise to our community.

“They went out and publicly said that parents would be able to be closer to their children and their babies and not have to travel to Newtown.

“Now, they’ve taken that away from us without explaining why.”

Andersen was also concerned that the community was not told about the decision.

She noted Reti finally provided clarity two days before Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced his demotion.

“It raises questions about whether the sudden transparency was a genuine effort or a last-ditch attempt to salvage credibility.”

Former Health Minister Shane Reti referred questions about the new unit to new Health Minister Simeon Brown's office. Photo / Mike Scott

Reti’s office referred the Herald’s questions about this to new Minister of Health Simeon Brown.

Brown said he expected Health NZ to deliver timely and quality healthcare.

“I have asked for a briefing to explain why the standalone community-based transitional care unit has not been delivered.

“As this is an operational matter for Health New Zealand I have also asked them to provide substantive answers to your questions.”

Health NZ director of operations Jamie Duncan said whānau across the region could feel confident that more complex neo-natal care will continue to be provided within a hospital setting.

The quality of maternity care in the region will not be impacted by the decision not to progress with the unit, he said.

However, when Health NZ announced the unit, it listed several issues with the current approach to care.

This included the separation of pēpi from parents creating barriers to establishing breastfeeding, interfering with attachment and mental health, and likely prolonging hospital admission.

“A transition unit model of care will reduce that, improve outcomes for pēpi, and ease pressure on services across the district,” a press release from the time said.

Duncan said Health NZ understood that the mother-newborn attachment was vital and would continue to work with midwives to make sure women maintained access to the highest standard of maternity care.

“We note the facility has not been used as a birthing unit for the last two years and that there has been no reduction in access to quality care for maternity patients in the Hutt Valley as a result.”

Health NZ did not elaborate on exactly why the unit was not going ahead and it did not answer questions about whether the decision had been adequately communicated to the community.

Hutt South MP Chris Bishop, who launched a petition for the then Labour Government to use the centre for maternity care, said he was disappointed in Health NZ.

“I went to the launch of the transitional care unit and there was huge community excitement.

“Health NZ need to deliver what they said they would do and utilise this purpose-built birthing facility that they are currently paying rent on every month.”

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.