Enilimoni Tongotea's 'second princess' was the 8000th birth in 12 months for Middlemore. Photo / Greg Bowker
The arrival of Mangere mum Enilimoni Tongotea's "second princess" yesterday morning was extra special for staff at Middlemore Hospital.
It was the hospital's 8000th birth, marking another year when birth rates in the Counties-Manukau District Health Board area have defied official predictions. And a further 30 births are
expected by midnight tonight, when the board's financial year officially ends.
While the country's overall birthrate is in decline, births in Counties-Manukau have jumped 25 per cent over six years.
Officials have already had to revise 2004 projections of a 9.6 per cent growth over 10 years to 25 per cent.
But another revision of those figures may be on the cards after the latest baby boom fell just 400 shy of 2011's projection of 8487 births.
The health board's clinical director for women's health, Dr Keith Allenby, is tipping 8250 births next year.
Planners believe the migration to newer and more affordable housing developments in Dannemora, Papakura and Franklin was the major contributor to the boom.
Officials were keeping an eye on the impact of new housing developments, said Dr Allenby.
"The problem is you can't say [how many] people within those houses are going to be having families, or how big their families are going to be.
"It's good for the population of New Zealand. It's the only place where there seems to be a growth in population in terms of home-growing, rather than importing, but there are lots of challenges with it."
Counties, like much of the rest of the country, is having workforce shortages, particularly in midwifery. It is 39 vacancies short, but some of these responsibilities have been assumed by obstetric nurses.
About 1200 births are handled by the health board's maternity units in Botany, Papakura and Pukekohe, but the vast majority of women still go to Middlemore Hospital.
Marlene Stratton, service manager of women's health, said Middlemore on average delivered around 20 to 23 babies a day.
The hospital also takes care of some of the most complex cases, with 35 per cent of the women it serves considered "high risk". That, coupled with staff shortages, means staff are under enormous pressure.
"We have staff working 12 to 20 hours extra each week just to fill in the gaps," said Ms Stratton.
Mrs Tongotea, however, had a textbook delivery of her sixth child. The 8lb 8oz baby girl, who arrived at 5.58am yesterday, was likely to be named Falepoini, after her husband's sister.
