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Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia is joining the growing opposition to Wanganui Hospital's plans to shut down specialty maternity services.
Hospital managers say they are unable to recruit enough staff to keep the facility open and are proposing Wanganui women travel by ambulance to Palmerston North hospital for specialist care.
But Turia has defied Health Minister Tony Ryall's support of plans to close the facility, saying it will only add to the stress of expectant mothers who would have to make the 2 ý hour drive to Palmerston North.
"This isn't just about women birthing - this is about the future
of our city.
"We have to be able to promote Whanganui as a destination where
people love to live. If this proposal goes ahead, I know for sure
that families with young children will think twice about living
here," said Turia.
Local midwives are also opposing the changes, saying they will place an unnecessary financial and emotional burden on the women as well as putting their own livelihoods in jeopardy.
They estimate half of the 800 births in Wanganui each year would occur in Palmerston North.
Senior doctors from both hospitals said it was the only workable solution to continuing maternity staffing shortages.
"We are rapidly approaching a crisis point more serious than we have faced in the past."
Palmerston North Hospital needs five obstetricians, but has two positions they have been unable to fill. Wanganui requires four specialists but only has two working, one of whom is close to retirement.
Digby Ngan Kee, regional clinical director of obstetrics and gynaecology for the two boards, said the proposal was "the best plan we can come up with".
"I don't have a plan B."
Women who had to be transferred to Palmerston North - an hour by road - would be safe, he said. "People will be transferred at an early stage. Hopefully we can pick up the warning signs before adverse events occur."
Local midwives said although they believed the proposed service would be safe, it would still place a heavy burden on Whanganui women.
The distance from Whanganui to Palmerston North falls just short of the 80-kilometre threshold for travel assistance - meaning women would have to pay their own transport costs unless transferred by ambulance.
"We've got a large area of deprivation and it's going to greatly impact women financially and emotionally," midwife Angelique Tucker said.
The plan also faces opposition from some members of Whanganui DHB.
Philippa Baker-Hogan was concerned about how women would be safely transferred in an emergency. "There has to be a risk of an hour's travel, no matter how well you manage it."
Health Minister Tony Ryall said the plan was "serious and significant".
"I've made it clear that the safety of mothers and their babies must be paramount."
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