Pregnant women living within the boundaries of the Greater Western Area Health Service have borne the brunt of maternity unit closures in NSW in the past decade-and-a-half.
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The State Opposition yesterday named the 34 units shut down since 1994, including 13 in the Greater Western.
Opposition spokesperson for health Jillian Skinner reeled off the affected communities -Coonabarabran, Brewarrina, Cobar, Condobolin, Coolah, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Narromine, Nyngan, Oberon, Walgett, Warren and Wellington.
She said the demise of the 34 units had “put added pressure” on larger facilities, such as Dubbo Base Hospital.
News Limited yesterday reported that half of the birthing units in the State had closed in the past 15 years.
Rural doctors feared four more were under threat, including the unit at Bourke, it said.
A spokesperson for the Greater Western yesterday said it had not closed any maternity services in the past 10 years.
“Greater Western AHS (Area Health Service) has demonstrated its commitment to rural maternity services by maintaining its nine birthing facilities -Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Cowra, Forbes, Parkes, Mudgee, Broken Hill and Bourke,” she said.
“The AHS is actively working on strategies to improve the provision of maternity services at Bourke, including the introduction of case-load midwifery, which has not only improved the outcomes for women and babies but is also helpful in attracting midwives to work in rural areas in towns where it has been introduced.
“The midwife at Bourke provides ante-natal and post-natal care and an outreach service at Brewarrina.
News Limited reports that NSW is in the “era of torch births” with women giving birth enroute to large hospitals or in the back of ambulances.
It says others are prepared to up stakes and live in basic accommodation closer to main hospitals to avoid being caught short.
Ms Skinner says many mothers have to travel for “as long as three hours to hospital when they go into labour”.
“The State Labor Government has abandoned mothers in regional and rural NSW,” she said.
“Labor simply doesn’t care about young mothers who don’t live in a big city.”