St George’s Hospital Maternity Centre To Close

St George’s Hospital's publicly funded maternity services contract with Te Whatu Ora ends on 30 June this year and will result in the closure of the Hospital's Maternity Centre.

“We have not been able to agree on a new contract extension with Te Whatu Ora,” says Blair Roxborough, St George’s Hospital Chief Executive. “The ongoing national midwife shortage has meant that we have struggled to maintain consistent, safe staffing.

“Today we have advised our maternity staff and the Midwives Union MERAS that we are sadly closing our Maternity Centre and disestablishing all maternity related roles. The national shortage of midwives leaves us very confident that all our staff will find new roles.”

Te Whatu Ora is due to open its new central city primary birthing unit, more than double the size of the St George’s unit, in late 2023.

“We remain open to providing other maternity related services in line with our philanthropic charter and we will be looking at options. We continue to support the Rotary Breast Milk Bank by providing it with a home at the Hospital, free of charge.

“We would like to thank the many midwives and clinicians who have played a role in safely delivering babies at St George’s for more than 90 years. We also want to thank whānau who have chosen to give birth at St George’s – we know that St George’s Maternity has been a special place for so many people,” says Blair Roxborough.

© Scoop Media