Wanaka will get a primary birthing unit “if possible”, the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) has announced.

The SDHB said there may be two new primary birthing units in the Central Otago/Wanaka area if work with local midwives to develop new operating models is successful.

The recommendation to establish a new primary birthing unit at Dunstan Hospital in Clyde, and a second unit in Wanaka - if possible - was developed by the SDHB and the Central Lakes Locality Network following months of consultation.

“For Wanaka this is a really positive decision and now we can get down to the real work of making it happen,” said long-term Wanaka midwife Emma Bilous, now lecturer/student practice facilitator at the Central Otago satellite site for the Otago Polytechnic.

Mary Cleary Lyons said the SDHB could collaborate with a community trust or local health care provider, with LMC midwives working as a team to deliver care. PHOTO: Wanaka App

The SDHB said establishing two units for the area will require developing an operating model in collaboration with local midwives, to ensure the units are sustainable with the number of projected births in the region.

If such an operating model cannot be achieved, the SDHB will consider a single birthing unit for the Central Otago/Wanaka area, located at either Dunstan Hospital, or at a new undetermined site in Cromwell.

Emma said the decision was made with “a degree of confidence” that the various groups can work together successfully.

“To put it in a national context, there isn’t a perfect outcome for an area like Wanaka which is unique because of the relatively large birthing population and the largest distance to a base hospital,” she said, adding the SDHB had to be creative in identifying solutions.

The decision means the end for Alexandra’s Charlotte Jean Birthing Unit. PHOTO: Supplied

SDHB primary and population health general manager Mary Cleary Lyons echoed Emma’s view.

“...we have needed to explore creative solutions, as we find the right balance providing more facilities, and ensuring those facilities are well utilised and sustainable,” she said.

Details of how an arrangement would work have not been agreed, but Mary said one option could involve collaborating with a community trust or local health care provider, with LMC midwives working as a team to deliver care.

Either way, the decision means the end for Alexandra’s Charlotte Jean Birthing Unit.

Emma has used the Charlotte Jean unit for the 20 years it has been open. 

“It has served the population really well,” she said, adding she hoped everything learnt at Charlotte Jean during that period will be put to good use in the new unit.

Establishing a primary birthing unit at Dunstan is an opportunity to develop a purpose built, modern facility with immediate access helicopter transfer, SDHB director of midwifery Heather La Dell said.

“We now have an opportunity to design services for the future. We believe that developing these two units in these locations better meets the needs for the community in relation to the priorities that have been identified.”

The recently established Upper Clutha Maternity Charitable Trust has been in conversations with SDHB about the recommendations.

Trust chairperson Morgan Weathington welcomed the news, but said the caveat of ensuring the unit is sustainable was “a fairly big ‘if’”.

“It means the DHB and the community are going to have to work together to make the unit happen, but we know there's a really strong will for that here. We look forward to working with the DHB to ensure that a primary unit here in Wanaka becomes a reality -- and we'd like to see that sooner rather than later,” she said.

The recommendations come after months of consultation with families and health providers across the region, including two public meetings, and 500 written submissions and survey responses.

SDHB acting chair Dr David Perez acknowledged the community’s input and the work of the LMC midwives in exploring alternative models.

“We look forward to continued progress in confirming that a two-model solution, including a long-awaited birthing unit in Wanaka, can be brought to reality,” he said.