DHB braces for shortage of midwives

Wairarapa could face a shortage of midwives early next year, as the DHB works through the options for cover as a result of several departing.

Wairarapa DHB clinical services manager Kieran McCann said there are around 12 lead maternity carers - most of them midwives - who have private practices in the community, and about the same number who work at Wairarapa Hospital.

He estimates that by the end of the year they will be six lead maternity carers short for the number of women expected to give birth at that time.

Mr McCann said while Wairarapa Hospital will always provide maternity care if women cannot find a midwife, they are looking at how best to provide care in the coming months.

There are challenges for lead maternity carers (LMCs) working in Wairarapa, including the distance some need to travel, which make the rural district less attractive to work in, he says.

"An LMC working in Epsom might have a patch five streets long and four streets wide. It's different living in Masterton, where you might get a call to Eketahuna. We're talking vast distances."

Midwife Clare Bardsley said together with Wairarapa DHB, midwives are trying to improve maternity care options available to women in Wairarapa.

"We're working to put a plan in place for the upcoming shortage [of lead maternity carers] in primary care."

She said the number of women needing maternity care at any one time flucuated from month to month, but there were a number of months in which there was a shortage depending on when people were expected to deliver.

Midwife Lisa Wood, one of several local midwives stopping their practice before the end of the year, said her last client would be giving birth in November.

"One of the reasons I'm leaving is I'm unable to have a financially viable practice - I wasn't able to find enough clients."

Ms Wood said she would take a break from midwifery for a while, but was not sure if she would restart her practice.