NEW BIRTHING POOL A HIT WITH MOTHERS, BABIES AND MIDWIVES —

Immersion in warm water can help relieve labour pains and Motueka Maternity Unit’s new birthing pool has been very well-received by both mothers and midwives.

Unit Charge Midwife Manager Tracy Botica says the pool replaces a mobile pool that midwives had to fill and empty by lifting a heavy pump in and out of the pool. They also had to remove and dispose the large, singleuse plastic liners and roll the pool away for cleaning after each birth.

Tracy says her team did all of this for the benefit of women and babies, but the new permanent pool was something the midwives had wanted for some time.

The pool was blessed by Thomas Ngāruhe in March and was used the same day by a woman in labour, with a second woman keen to use it also. “There had been no births for a couple of weeks, but as soon as the pool was installed and blessed, we had two women needing it,” said Tracy.

Tracy says the midwives love the new pool.

“It has given our birth room a muchneeded aesthetic lift and makes it feel modern and fresh.”

Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) Clare Spratt shares Tracy’s enthusiasm.

“This is such a fantastic resource for women and midwives that promotes natural childbirth and that’s what our local birthing unit is all about,” she says.

The pool was purchased with NMH funding topped up by fundraising and donations.

Above: In the back row, from left: Debbie Fisher (NMH Associate Director of Midwifery) Anna Bannister (LMC), Teresa Ngāruhe (Te Waka Hauora), Thomas Ngāruhe (Te Waka Hauora), Mel Marr (Motueka Maternity Unit), Claudia Garnett (LMC), Kerrie McConachie (Te Waka Hauora). In the front row kneeling, from left: Tui Lister (Te Waka Hauora), Janice Hayes (LMC), Wendy Cotter (LMC), Tracy Botica (Motueka Maternity Unit)