Huntly Deaths Highlight Need for Urgent Review of Maternity Services

New Zealand First is renewing calls for the government to order an urgent independent review of maternity services.

“The failure of a midwife to follow proper procedure was raised by the coroner when looking into the deaths of Casey Nathan and her baby in May 2012 -- this must surely have alerted the Government to put an urgent review in place,” says Health Spokesperson Barbara Stewart.

”The coroner’s findings show that the midwife was inexperienced and made successive errors of judgement.

“The Government must act on his recommendations which include not allowing newly qualified midwives to act as a lead maternity carer until they have significant experience and ensuring midwives are fully supervised for their first year of practice.

“New Zealand First is also calling on the government to order a full review of midwifery education and training.

“The coroner’s report comes just days after the government pledged $2.77 million to support the Midwifery First Year of Practice Programme mentoring programme

“This case shows that the programme is not working and the funding is inadequate.

“We need to do everything in our power to ensure that mothers and babies are safe. The current system means that too many preventable deaths and permanent disabilities occur.

“When will Minister of Health Jonathan Coleman take responsibility?”

ENDS

© Scoop Media