‘Women’s choices are being reduced’, says midwife after St George’s maternity service closure

Saturday, 29 July 2023

Abby Downs, 28, is in a good position to rate Canterbury’s birthing units after giving birth to her four children in four different places.

Having the choice of where to start her birth, even if it did not finish there, was important to Downs.

“[It] gives us some of our power back. The choice can also be exciting, I loved trying out different places to birth,” she said.

While Downs opted to have a home birth, for some Canterbury women it’s become a more likely option, following the closure of St George’s maternity unit last month, which has left them with fewer choices.

While more women choosing to give birth at home was a “great thing,” it was also a “sad thing” that women’s choices had been reduced, regional chairperson for the Canterbury West Coast College of Midwives Sheena Ross said.

Downs’ first birth was at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, she then went to Rangiora Maternity Hospital for her post-birth care.

Her second was at Lincoln Maternity Hospital, her third was at her home in Hornby and her fourth was at Oromairaki, the maternity unit in Rolleston.

“Our home birth entailed so much clean up (pool emptying) and washing (so many towels), that it was by far easier to go to Rolleston birthing unit and to be able to come home afterwards,” Downs said.

In spite of that, if she was to have another baby she said she would have a home birth.

St George’s birthing unit and maternity services closed on June 30 after contract talks that were extended when midwives and parents battled to keep them going finally fell through.

The maternity hospital had previously had a contract to provide hundreds of publicly-funded deliveries and postnatal services with Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury (formerly the Canterbury District Health Board).

Ross, who is also a midwife at Rata Midwives, and her practice partner had two women who were booked to give birth at St George’s, choose to give birth at home in recent weeks.

Neither woman wanted to travel to the maternity units in Rangiora or Rolleston or give birth at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, so chose to have a home birth.

One was having her second baby, and travel time was a concern. Both had their babies during the day and did not want to sit in traffic, Ross said.

“These women are well educated and understand that going to the acute unit at Christchurch Women’s isn’t where they need to be, they are healthy women.

“Women who make informed decisions about where to birth know that birthing in a primary unit is a really safe and healthy option for them, they're less likely to have interventions if they stay at home or go to a primary unit,” Ross said.

Their decision was based on “timings, distance and safety”.

Rachel Sterritt, 22, is 24 weeks pregnant with her first baby and would have “loved to” give birth at St George’s, had the option been available, but will now have a home birth, all going to plan.

She said the drive from New Brighton to either Rolleston or Rangiora was too far and Christchurch Women’s was “unappealing”.

“I have a genetic condition that affects my joints and ligaments. I am not allowed to give birth on my back, or have an epidural due to the risk of serious damage to my hips and spine.”

After hearing bad stories from friends, Sterritt worried Christchurch Women’s was “not very accommodating” for women who want to have a minimally intrusive and self-controlled birth, she said.

Katelyn Manson, 25, is due to have her first child in November.

She hoped to give birth at St George’s but will instead be having a home birth.

Manson will soon be moving to Sumner, so Rolleston and Rangiora would be too far to travel, she said.

“I love the idea of controlling what I can. The environment, the sounds, the lighting and who I have there,” she said.

“I don’t love the idea of being in a hospital environment unless I obviously need to be.”

Rata Midwives do a lot of home births and are able to facilitate them, Ross said, but not every practice is.

“We love a home birth, we’re set up for it and women enjoy home births, it's a positive experience.

“But what we really love is women having the choice, and when choices are taken away from them, that doesn’t benefit anyone at all, women choose the best for them,” Ross said.

Taking away St George’s maternity services placed more pressure on every other unit, she said.

New central city birthing unit, Kurawaka Waipapa, is due to open in late 2023, a Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said.

The unit will be located at 238 Antigua St, a few minutes away from Christchurch Women’s Hospital.

While Ross was looking forward to the new unit, there was still a “big gap” between St George’s unit closure and the new unit opening.