Free antenatal classes for Rotorua mums

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.

"The programmes will be designed around and will target the high needs groups (which includes first time mothers) but will of course have universal accessibility."

In the Lakes district there are seven providers of pregnancy and parenting information and education. In the current year the health board plans to contract for 54 courses, each made up of up to six classes for up to 12 women. It will cost around $133,000.

Parents Centre New Zealand chief executive Viv Gurrey said the health board had been giving messages that were "both contradictory and confusing" around who would be eligible for the free classes.

"If they're contradictory and confusing to us it must be exceedingly confusing to first time parents out there. To be clear, we don't expect them to fund everyone, and indeed they aren't now, but we do expect they will make funded classes available to all."

She said the Rotorua Parents Centre would continue to offer childbirth classes but would provide their own rather than under a government contract.