Thursday, 21 February 2008

It's not just about bed numbers!

UnitedFuture health spokesperson Judy Turner says the fact that Blenheim's Wairau Hospital maternity unit is to get one more bed than originally planned for in the new upgrade borders on the irrelevant when measured against the more secret agenda revealed in papers leaked to UnitedFuture recently.

"The Nelson District Health Board listed some very disturbing strategies to "enable decreased admissions, earlier discharge and reduced length of stay" by maternity clients.

"All this is being considered in the middle of a regional and national baby-boom.

"Some of the more sinister details of this strategy are

a deliberate programme to remove any sense of entitlement a mother may have to a few days respite after the birth of her child

a willingness to postpone elective/planned events (inductions of labour and planned caesarean sections), and

the discharge of women at short notice including in the middle of the night if necessary.

"The report acknowledges that there are some new trends in maternity care which mean that more Mums are going to need secondary care after the birth of the baby.

"Issues like increasing obesity rates, increasing maternal age, increasing maternity co-morbidity and an increasing propensity for inherited fertility and pregnancy complications are all identified in the report which only serves to make more insane the inclusion of a strategy to reduce the number of days a Mum can stay in after the birth of her baby," said Mrs Turner.

ENDS

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