Pregnant women deemed a low-risk for delivery complications may be barred from giving birth at Christchurch Women's Hospital.
Under a new proposal mums-to-be, who were deemed likely to have a normal delivery, would be directed to primary birthing units, such as Lincoln, Rangiora or Burwood, or advised tohave a home birth, The Press reported today.
An epidural for pain relief would not then be an option.
Midwives welcomed the scheme, but said some mothers would have "a mixed reaction".
A lack of bed numbers had put the new Christchurch Women's Hospital under pressure since it opened.
The number of beds remained the same as at the old Colombo Street hospital - 134 - but the number of births has skyrocketed.
In the hospital's first year of opening, in March 2005, 500 more babies were born.
The hospital's clinical director of obstetrics, Di Poad, said several options were being looked to enable extra Caesareans to be done, "but we will need a lot of discussion before any decisions are made".
Dr Poad said she was not surprised by the increase in hospital births as women were having babies later in life, increasing their risk of complications.
The College of Midwives' Canterbury-West Coast chairwoman, Rose Barker, said only informal talks had been held on any new booking system.
"But there clearly needs to be some kind of strategy," she said.
"Christchurch Women's is a tertiary facility and there are a lot of women who don't require tertiary care that are in there."
The hospital was so full the care of high-risk women was being compromised, she said.
Ms Barker said women may be worried about the risk of complications, "but there are very few emergencies around birth that are split-second".
