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Staff shortages at Wanganui Hospital mean pregnant women may soon have to travel to Palmerston North for special maternity care.
The future of the specialty maternity ward at Wanganui Hospital is in question as managers fail to recruit enough medical staff to keep the service open.
Hospital managers say they have been relying on locum doctors but this compromises the safety of the women who require specialty care.
"If they have acute need or if they have particular health issues then what we are proposing is that they receive these services in Palmerston North," said Wanganui Hospital CEO Julie Patterson.
Wanganui midwives say their major concern is not for women who are able to plan giving birth in advance but women who go into labour in the middle of the night and then have to travel for two hours to Palmerston North.
They are also concerned the closure will have a catastrophic
effect on the community and result in the end of their jobs in
Wanganui.
"We have to feed our kids somehow too and it's going to effect us
financially, then some of us might have to move," said independent
midwife Angelique Tucker.
Wanganui Hospital is not the only facility having problems attracting specialist maternity staff with Gisborne, Kaitaia and Queenstown also reporting recruiting difficulties.
The Wanganui Hospital Board is holding a public meeting
tomorrow.
