Midwives have complained that a lack of safe transfers from Central Otago and Queenstown to main centres is putting "women and babies at risk". The New Zealand College of Midwives wrote to the Southern District Health Board last year on behalf of "extremely concerned" midwives. "We are formally notifying you of the concerns of midwives in the region and the risk to the health and safety of the women, babies, and midwives." Hospital clinicians "sometimes minimise the transferring midwives’ concerns", college chief executive Karen Guilliland’s letter said. New Zealand College of Midwives principal adviser Norma Campbell told the ODT yesterday there was now better communication between the parties.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 02, 2017 17:03 UTC