Mother 'pressured' to leave after birth

Francky Godinho and Kathryn Ryan are unhappy with the treatment they received at Hawke's Bay Hospital after their son Lucas Augustine Godinho was born. Photo / Warren Buckland

A Hastings mother who was not "mentally prepared" to leave Hawke's Bay Hospital said she felt like she was being kicked out when her newborn son was just over 24 hours old.

Kathryn Ryan delivered her son, Lucas, at hospital early Friday morning on May 20, and asked to stay longer as she had concerns about her breastfeeding ability, and had suffered post-natal depression in the past.

Responding to the story, the Hawke's Bay District Health board said in a statement yesterday that it would like to reassure Hawke's Bay Today readers that no one who had given birth in the maternity unit at Hawke's Bay Hospital was discharged unless they were medically fit and there were no concerns about their baby.

Ms Ryan said she had the support of her partner, Francky Godinho, with whom she has two other children, but wanted the assurance of being around medical practitioners. Despite being told she could prolong her stay, at 8am Saturday staff suggested she and Lucas leave as they were "clinically fine".

"I know you can't stay in hospital forever but if you have enough concerns in yourself that you can't go home - I wasn't mentally prepared for that," she said.

Staff were not aware of Ms Ryan's previous post-natal depression.

She said: "I shouldn't have to go around saying I had post-natal depression with my second child, I don't think I was asking too much for a second night when [Lucas] was just over 24 hours old."

The DHB statement said there was no set number of nights women were allowed to stay in the maternity unit.

"Length of stays are entirely based on the medical well-being of both mother and child. However we would expect most women would be discharged between 6 and 24 hours after a normal delivery, if all was well." the DHB said.

Mr Godinho was working, and could not pick his partner up until 3pm. Ms Ryan was moved to a day assessment room after being told the unit was short staffed, and her ward would be closing.

The DHB statement said one of the hospital wards was being used for maternity patients while a new birthing centre was completed, and it opened and shut based on demand and the efficient running of the hospital.

By Saturday afternoon, Ms Ryan had been awake since 3am Friday as Lucas was not sleeping properly.

"I was sleep deprived, your body's been through a lot, and you're mentally tired," she said, "I was in tears telling them 'you're kicking me out'."

Ms Ryan said a minority of staff caused an issue - others had taken Lucas so she could sleep, a lactation consultant was brought in to help relieve her concerns, and a room was found for the family to stay in Saturday night. Then after being told she could stay until 3pm Sunday, Ms Ryan was asked to leave early Sunday morning.

Ms Ryan's midwife said Ms Ryan had been pressured to leave because there were rules that needed to be followed.

She felt an approach which was more diplomatic, holistic, and sensitive could have avoided what happened.

"All women should be treated in a holistic way and each woman as an individual should be treated in the context of their individual situation," she said.

Ms Ryan said: "They didn't take into consideration [my] mental state. You can't put everybody in the same box, they need to let the mother decide when she's ready to go."

The DHB said maternal depression is something that is always considered and asked about throughout a woman's pregnancy by their lead maternity carer.

- For more information: http://www.ourhealthhb.nz/health-services/mental-health-services/pregnant-just-had-a-baby-feeling-overwhelmed/