Maternity Care
Southland has approximately 1600 births per annum, with approximately 1200-1300 births occurring at Southland Hospital and 200-300 occurring in the region's other primary care birthing facilities or as home births. Free Maternity Care:Women in New Zealand, who meet the Ministry of Health's eligibility criteria, have access to free maternity care from early pregnancy through until four-six weeks after the baby's birth. Lead Maternity Carer (LMC):Women choose a Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) to coordinate their maternity care. Your LMC will provide you with detailed information about what to expect during pregnancy, labour and post birth and can answer your questions. The LMC is most often a midwife, but it can also be a General Practitioner (GP) or an Obstetrician. In Southland it is usually a midwife as there are no Southland GPs providing the LMC service and few private obstetricians. Southland has approximately 30 midwives providing LMC care working either independently in the community, or employed by a primary birthing facility or by Southland DHB (working either at Lakes District Hospital in Queenstown or in Southland Hospital in Invercargill). Women who are considered to have high risk pregnancies or other health complications, will be referred to the ante-natal clinic at Southland Hospital, with an Obstetrician providing support and advice to the LMC, or the obstetrician may undertake clinical responsibility for woman with the LMC continuing to provide midwifery support. To find a LMC near you, please call the nationwide information service for maternity consumers 0800 Mum2Be (0800 686 223), during weekday business hours. Primary Birthing Units:Most women will have a normal birth (without complications) in a primary care birthing facility. In Southland there are six primary birthing facilities which offer midwifery led birthing.
NB. Southland Hospital provides both a primary birthing facility as well as a secondary level birthing facility with specialist care. The primary birthing units in Lumsden, Tuatapere, Winton, Gore and at Lakes District Hospital have small numbers of beds and are more able to offer a longer length of stay post birth than a secondary care hospital environment can. For births requiring possible intervention by secondary care specialists, you will either already have a birth plan to deliver at Southland Hospital or you may need to be transferred during labour from a primary birthing unit, should complications arise. Highly specialised or tertiary care is usually provided in Dunedin or other specialist centres, depending on the requirement. This level of care is usually only required for significant prematurity or for other conditions in babies that are diagnosed antenatally and birth is arranged to occur elsewhere. It is important to note that 80% of women will have a normal birth with the care and support of a midwife in a primary care birthing unit. Only a small number of women require specialist intervention at a secondary level hospital (ie Southland Hospital) or highly specialised tertiary care (ie at Dunedin Hospital). Specialist Intervention - Southland Hospital:For women who are considered to have high risk pregnancies, or who require specialist intervention due to complications with their pregnancy or labour, Southland Hospital has a team of specialist Obstetricians, junior doctors and staff midwives to provide more complex care. There are four operating theatres at Southland Hospital should caesarean section be required. The Southland Hospital maternity unit is a modern, primary and secondary level care birthing facility that opened in late 2004. There are four birthing rooms - two with baths and two with deep water immersion pools. The unit has 14 single rooms for women, all with ensuite bathroom facilities to support privacy post birth. A mothers-only lounge provides women the opportunity to have meals together during their stay in the unit. A Lactation Consultant service is provided at Southland Hospital for women in the unit and also to support women and LMCs in the community. Women who have a normal birth at Southland Hospital's primary care unit usually have an average length of stay of 2 days. Women who have had intervention including caesarean section have an average stay of 3-4 days. Your LMC will advise you of what to expect depending on the birth and the health of you and your baby. Neo-Natal Care:A team of specialist Paediatricians manage the neo-natal unit, which is co-located to the maternity unit in Southland Hospital. Babies are cared for in our neonatal unit from 30 weeks gestation. Should birth occur in Southland prior to this gestation, babies receive immediate care and stabilisation and are transferred to Dunedin Hospital's more specialised unit. When very premature babies have reached the gestational age of 30 weeks or are medically stable they are transferred back to Southland Hospital. Smokefree Pregnancy:Being smokefree whilst pregnant is one of the most important things you can do to support the health of your growing baby, as well as benefiting your own health. More information about free smokefree support services in the region. Baby Friendly Hospitals:Southland Hospital, Lakes District Hospital Maternity, Gore Hospital, Lumsden Maternity Facility and Tuatapere Maternity Facility are all 'Baby Friendly Hospitals.' The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) accredits health care facilities where the practitioners who provide care for women and babies adopt practices that aim to protect, promote and support exclusive breastfeeding from birth. Breastfeeding Support:During your stay at the birthing facility, you will be supported by your LMC and other staff to breast feed your baby. Support and help is also available outside of these units, by a range of groups in the community, as detailed on the Breastfeeding + Support webpage. More information:
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