Palmerston North birthing centre officially opens under Midcentral District Health Board management

Rachel Moore11:57, Sep 10 2020

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The MidCentral District Health Board is celebrating its takeover of the Palmerston North’s primary birthing centre.

The health board and the centre's owners, the Wright Family Foundation, agreed in April the health board would lease and take over day-to-day management of the two-year-old Te Papaioea Birthing Centre on Ruahine St.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, its official opening was put off until Wednesday.

The birthing centre caters for women expected to have uncomplicated deliveries.

READ MORE:
* Palmerston North hospital relaxes visitor restrictions
* MidCentral Health takes over management of Te Papaioea primary birthing unit
* Primary birthing unit marks two-year anniversary with more special deliveries

The joint service would give women who gave birth in the hospital the option to move to Te Papaioea for their post-natal care.

Partners were also able to stay for the duration of the admission, with the aim of encouraging family bonding.

On Wednesday the centre was serving one woman in labour and three post-natal patients. Since April 1 it has assisted with 128 births and 137 post-natal transfers.

Sarah Taylor gave birth to her daughter Isla at the centre 7½ months ago.

“I love it. It was so lovely. I had the best birth experience ever.”

She spent two days in Te Papaioea, with her husband, son, and their new arrival.

“I can’t rave about it enough. It was so family orientated. It made such a big difference to us.”

Birthing centre founder Chloe Wright said the partnership was the gold standard for maternity and postnatal care, which all women of New Zealand had a right to receive.

She said it was rewarding to see mothers leaving happy and viewed the takeover as confirmation that primary birthing centres were part of the solution to taking the pressure off hospital maternity units.

Wright said the Palmerston North service was only the beginning and she would like to see more primary birthing centres throughout the country.

Her vision was to put mothers at the centre of society.

“We put the mother in the centre and the child follows, and the family follows. We put all the focus on the child, but what is the child without the mother?”

MidCentral operations executive for healthy women and children Sarah Fenwick said it was about providing the best start in life.

Te Papaioea was a beautiful, calming space for women to give birth, rest and spend time with their new baby.

“What they [Wright Family Foundation] created was something that we could never have done.”