A Kaitaia midwife has waded into Wanganui's maternity services controversy, saying Wanganui residents worried about a 74km journey to Palmerston North Hospital should take heart from the Far North, where women travel up to three times that distance for specialist help.
The trip from Te Kao, at the top of the Northland district, to the city of Whangarei is 221km, making the Wanganui-Palmerston North journey seem short by comparison. Public submissions are being gathered on the controversial proposal to concentrate all specialist services for Wanganui in Palmerston North. Submissions close on Wednesday.
Kerri Rewha, a midwife for 12 years in Kaitaia, said in a Sunday newspaper there was no need for panic. "It's not ideal but it's workable."
In Kaitaia, she said, the midwives called the shots and when they decided a woman needed a transfer, an ambulance or helicopter was made available.
Kaitaia Hospital stopped offering caesareans in 2002. Now obstetricians visit regularly and women needing specialist birth care plan to go to Whangarei for the birth, or are taken by helicopter or ambulance.