Service providers are ensuring that pregnancy and parenting information and education is available to all those who wish to access it.
The Lakes District Health Board has moved to reassure all first time mothers they will be eligible for free antenatal classes under changes to the way childbirth education is delivered in Rotorua.
General manager of planning and funding for Lakes District Health Board, Mary Smith, said they were looking at
changes to the way the classes were delivered, targeting those expectant mothers with the highest needs.
However, she said that did not mean access would be denied to others but rather meant that the programmes would be developed particularly around meeting the needs of the target groups.
About half of the births in Rotorua in the past 12 months were Maori and one in 10 of all births in the last year were to teenage mums.
She said the health board would be working with service providers to ensure that pregnancy and parenting information and education is available to all those who wish to access it.
