Maternity centre hailed as exciting one-stop shop

Midwives and associated health staff celebrate the opening of the Napier Maternity Resource Centre yesterday.

The opening of the Napier Maternity Resource Centre is being hailed as an exciting development in maternity care, providing a one-stop shop for pregnancy and early parenting needs.

About 30 midwives and associated health staff attended the opening yesterday.

The centre will provide midwifery assessments, breastfeeding support, pregnancy and parenting information, and also serve as a drop-in centre for Napier women seeking advice about pregnancy, finding a midwife, or who have concerns and queries relating to maternal matters.

There will be opportunities for pregnancy and parenting education, access to antenatal assessments for women and their Lead Maternity Carers 24/7, and the presence of the Napier Baby Cafe and midwifery clinics.

It will work in collaboration with the existing Midwifery Centre which has been at 234 Kennedy Rd for the last 20 years, providing midwifery services to Napier women and their families.

Hawke's Bay District Health Board midwifery director Jules Arthur said the need for a maternity resource centre in Napier came from the maternity services review in 2012, where the public agreed a resource centre that would provide local access to ante and post-natal information and support was what they wanted.

The centre will be linked in with community-based agencies such as Plunket Community Hub, Tamariki Ora, Family Start, Family Works, Winz and Housing New Zealand.

"This is an exciting opportunity to ensure our pregnant women engage earlier with a midwife, and have a place to come that offers support, education and links to other community agencies in Hawke's Bay," Ms Arthur said.

"We want to ensure that all our women have swift, meaningful and improved access to midwifery and maternity services. We are here to serve our population and meet their needs. Simply put, It will be the place to go for expectant and new mothers."