Changes to Whakatāne Obstetrics and Gynaecology Service

You can still give birth with the care of a midwife at Whakatāne’s Ko Matariki Maternity Unit, but if you are going to need help from a doctor with your birth, you will need to go to Tauranga Hospital: 

for caesarean sections

• if you are having an induced labour (induction)
• for epidurals
• if you have had problems during birth previously.

If you suffer a complex perineal tear during birth in Whakatāne, you will also need to travel to Tauranga Hospital. You and your whānau will be given support for travel, food and accommodation.

While you are pregnant, your care will continue at Whakatāne Hospital with the support of Tauranga doctors if required. If you need specialist care for your birth, you will need to travel to Tauranga Hospital, and we will support you with that.

Your midwife will send referrals (if needed) to the appropriate specialist, just as they would have before. We will continue to provide antenatal, gynaecology and colposcopy clinics at Ko Matariki Maternity Unit with a visiting Obstetrician/Gynaecologist (2 days per week).

The Neonatal Unit continues to run at Ko Matariki Maternity Unit, meaning you can be transferred back to Ko Matariki Maternity Unit as soon as everyone is well enough to travel.

There are options for birthing at Bethlehem Birthing Centre for you have some risk of developing complications in labour, or who would prefer to birth in a primary unit with quicker access to specialist input at Tauranga Hospital. If you are in this situation, the best option for you will be discussed during your antenatal visit or with your lead maternity carer/midwife.

Any surgery that requires an overnight stay in hospital, or procedures that are not currently performed in Whakatāne such as outpatient hysteroscopy will be moved to Tauranga Hospital, except for day case surgery and some outpatient clinics. Specialists will visit from Tauranga to Whakatāne to run some of the Gynaecology outpatient clinics and perform some day case surgery. More-complex surgery or intervention will need to be carried out at Tauranga Hospital and transport and accommodation may be provided.

If you require emergency gynaecological care, our local emergency, medical and surgical team will provide urgent care for emergency presentations and will stabilise a patient with a gynaecology emergency prior to any transfer for specialist care.

The termination of pregnancy service will continue to be available. However, people will likely need to travel to Tauranga or Rotorua for this. Particularly for later terminations after 10 weeks of pregnancy.

We encourage you to speak to your midwife or Lead Maternity Carer who will assess your needs and talk to you about your wishes during your pregnancy to guide where you should have your baby. It is very important to find a midwife or Lead Maternity Carer if you are pregnant so you can have this assessment, and safe plans can be made.

If you are pregnant and are not currently enrolled with a midwife or Lead Maternity Carer, we encourage you to enrol as soon as you can on the Find My Midwife website.

Find My Midwife (external link)

Or you can call 0800 429 328. This phone number is available 24 hours/7 days per week and a midwife at Ko Matariki Maternity Unit can kōrero with you. You can call with any questions at any time.

If your midwife or LMC asks you to travel to Tauranga Hospital, your transport, accommodation and food costs will be provided for free to allow you to travel and stay before giving birth as advised by your midwife or doctor.

We offer each woman a $60 petrol voucher to cover a return trip from Whakatāne to Tauranga, a $90 voucher from Ōpōtiki to Tauranga return and a $150 voucher from Te Kaha to Tauranga return. There are no surcharges. Health New Zealand will organise this and pay up-front, so you do not have to pay.

Pre-paid motel accommodation in Tauranga is provided for you and your whānau. There is no need to pay and claim the cost back — we organise this for you so you can focus on what’s most important. If possible, you will be offered a single room at the Tauranga Maternity Unit so that your partner or support person can stay in the room with you.

In addition, motel accommodation is offered for other whānau members as required. Your whānau will be able to stay in the paid motel accommodation every night that you are in hospital in Tauranga.

You are offered a $30 food voucher per day for you and your whānau to use to cover the additional cost of having to get food in Tauranga rather than in Whakatāne.

Your partner or key support person will be provided three hospital meals per day in addition to this while staying at the Tauranga Maternity Unit. If any other costs are incurred, discuss with your midwife or LMC.

If your situation changes and you need urgent care at Tauranga Hospital, we have a dedicated 24/7 ambulance on standby. This is an additional ambulance to those serving the wider Whakatāne area and is only used for transferring women between Whakatāne and Tauranga hospitals. Helicopter transfers are also available in emergency situations.

Your midwife will travel with you in the ambulance and will provide all the care you will need. You can be checked by a midwife before you travel, and options can be discussed with you around your comfort and the progress of your labour to ensure the safest option for you and your baby.

You can have one support person travel with you in the ambulance. If you have more than one support person, they will need to travel by private car and will be provided with a petrol voucher to cover the cost. If you and your support person transfer with the ambulance and you do not have a support person following in a car, then we will support you to get back to Whakatāne once you are ready to go home.

Generally, there is not enough room on a flight to take a support person because of the medical equipment that is needed when you are being transferred. The support person would normally drive themselves to where you are going. We offer each woman a $60 petrol voucher to cover a return trip from Whakatāne to Tauranga, a $90 voucher from Ōpōtiki to Tauranga return and a $150 voucher from Te Kaha to Tauranga return.

Tauranga hospital is 90km (1hr 15min) drive from Whakatāne Hospital and has 24-hour secondary obstetric service cover, and 24-hour anaesthetic service cover. Tauranga Hospital can provide epidural access, induced labour (induction) and caesarean sections. If the road between Whakatāne and Tauranga is closed for any reason and the transfer is not time critical, the ambulance will detour via SH 30 and then onto Tauranga. If it’s an emergency transfer, we can either transfer via helicopter or by ambulance to Rotorua Hospital.

To ensure there is space available at Tauranga Hospital we will check capacity prior to you being transferred. If there is no available space you will be transferred to another hospital within the region in consultation with you, your partner, midwife and/or obstetrician.

Your midwife will be closely monitoring you and your baby during labour and if there are signs that you need additional help with your labour and birth, they will consult with an Obstetrician in Tauranga and further plans will be made.

We have a dedicated 24/7 ambulance on standby if needed. Helicopter transfers are also available in emergency situations.

An induced labour (induction) of labour can take 2 to 3 days until baby is born. If you have a caesarean section, we expect that you may be able to travel back to Whakatāne the following morning. If you are transferred to Tauranga for any other reason, the team will talk to you each day about how long you need to stay. If you have a caesarean section or other surgical intervention, you will be transferred back to Whakatāne by ambulance.

At your specialist clinic appointment, you will be given a date for your elective caesarean section.

A midwife will call you two days before your caesarean section to arrange your blood test and to confirm the time of surgery, travel, accommodation and other support.

If you live in Ōpōtiki or further east, you can have your blood test done at the Tauranga Maternity Ward the night before your caesarean section.

For your postnatal stay, you will be transferred back to Ko Matariki Maternity Unit as soon as both you and your baby are well enough to travel.

You will be given a date for your induced labour (induction), at either the antenatal clinic, or via a phone call from our team. You will need to be at the maternity unit in Tauranga by 8:30am.

A midwife will call you 2 days before your induced labour (induction) to confirm your induction time, travel, accommodation and other support.

For your postnatal stay, you will be transferred back to Ko Matariki Maternity Unit as soon as both you and baby are well enough to travel.

The pain relief options available at Whakatāne Hospital will be discussed with you during your pregnancy and we will assist you to decide on the best place for your birth. You may decide to birth at Tauranga Hospital depending on your pain relief needs, such as if you are going to require an epidural. The options will be discussed throughout your pregnancy and recommendations may change as you get closer to birth.

Morphine is available at Ko Matariki Maternity Unit and can be used to reduce labour pains. We also have Entonox (gas and air) available in our dedicated ambulances if you need it.

Primary birthing services are provided by midwives and includes caring for low-risk pregnancies and conducting vaginal births.

Secondary birthing services are those which require obstetric consultation, or obstetric intervention such as:

• assisted birth (forceps or ventouse)
• caesarean section
• epidural access
• induced labour (induction)
• management of major obstetric bleeding
• repair of complex perineal tears.

There is a national guideline around which conditions require secondary care consultation.

Guidelines for Consultation with Obstetric and Related Medical Services (Referral Guidelines)