NSW maternity staffing changes spark concern among midwives, expectant mums

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Specialist staff shortages at one of the busiest maternity hospitals on the NSW Central Coast could see women in labour transferred to Sydney or Newcastle hospitals.

Transcript

00:00As if getting ready to give birth wasn't scary enough, Central Coast mum Zoe Zawiericz faces

00:08the prospect of a road trip to Sydney or Newcastle for the delivery of her second child.

00:13If that was to happen, that would be terrifying and that's the last thing a person in labour

00:17needs to deal with.

00:19It could also be dangerous.

00:20Emergency C-sections need to be done very, very quickly and if the expectant mum is in

00:26an ambulance on the highway, then they can't do it there.

00:30There's a risk women in labour may be diverted from Gosford Hospital because of a lack of

00:34senior doctors.

00:36There is a statewide, national and international shortage of specialists in a number of areas

00:43and we haven't managed to fill all of those roles recently.

00:48The hospital is scrambling to recruit more doctors, insisting it has enough staff to

00:53avoid a shutdown of birthing services next week, but not making any guarantees.

00:58I can't predict the future, I suppose, so anything could happen.

01:03We're now absolutely seeing breaking point for our services.

01:07On the mid-north coast, Port Macquarie Base Hospital has to take more women because of

01:11staff shortages at Kempsey Hospital.

01:14On top of that, staff at Port Macquarie claim fewer midwives are being rostered on each

01:18shift, something the local health district denies.

01:22Having the idea that there might not be someone there to look after you and to help you is

01:26really scary.

01:27This is completely unacceptable and the government should never have allowed this situation to

01:31have arisen.

01:32The Nurses and Midwives Association has seized on the staff shortages as it fights for a

01:37pay rise, but the government is still refusing to meet its demands for a 15% bump.

01:42The New South Wales government, New South Wales Health aren't listening to us that the

01:46service isn't working.

01:47A dire prognosis by those holding the system together.

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