Ngā Maia Trust chair Lisa Kelly, a Māori midwife from Ōpōtiki, is calling for whānau-centred maternity care as women across the East Coast and Eastern Bay face long journeys to Tauranga to give birth.
Births at Whakatāne Hospital have plunged from 650 to just 86 since specialist services were cut in January.
Health NZ plans to restore full maternity care by April 2026, but Kelly says without enough midwives, many whānau are still forced to make the trip to Tauranga.
“Yes, but there’s no midwife to support them. We have a huge shortage of midwives on the ground here in the Eastern Bay. There’s currently only two midwives serving this whole area. So the shortage is really impacting as well. So whānau, they don’t have a midwife, then the only option is actually to go to Tauranga, because there’s no one to support them for their birth at home or in the primary birthing unit or at Whakatāne, so they are forced to go to Tauranga even if they are planning on having a normal birth,” says Kelly.
Kelly says she strives to build confidence in whānau to have home births and is part of the team at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi developing the country’s first Bachelor of Health Science in Māori Midwifery.
