From today, new mothers will no longer have access to postnatal care services at Shepparton Private Hospital.
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For the past four decades, up to five families could use the service at any one time. However, a national midwife shortage has been identified as the key factor in the decision to discontinue the service.
Women with private health insurance have been able to transfer to Shepparton Private Hospital after the birth of their baby, receiving one-on-one care from midwives and staff for up to five days post-delivery.
For Kialla’s Gracie Shephard, the service was a blessing with her first two children and something she was looking forward to for the birth of her third child, due in August.
‘‘This is our last child and we were looking forward to being able to have that extra stay and the extra cover,’’ Ms Shephard said.
Having her first two children via caesarean at Goulburn Valley Health, Ms Shephard said the transfer to Shepparton Private Hospital was easy and worked well.
‘‘They would discharge you and then you would head over to the private hospital for admission,’’ she said.
‘‘You could stay there for a lot longer than if you were at the base.’’
Ms Shephard said the postnatal care service was particularly useful following the birth of her first child.
‘‘I settled in and had four nights in the private and it was great,’’ she said.
‘‘A midwife sat with me for every feed.
‘‘They would check on me and the baby and would make sure my scar and pain relief was okay.’’
Ms Shephard was disappointed she would not have access to the service and was looking into her options.
‘‘I’ll have another planned caesar and I guess I’ll just be admitted as a private patient to the public hospital,’’ she said.
‘‘We’ll just have to make do with our options, we’re lucky to have a little time.’’
Ms Shephard said the decision to stop postnatal operations at Shepparton Private Hospital could make families think twice about taking out private health cover in the area.
‘‘So many pregnant women have private health and it makes you second guess paying all this money,’’she said.
She said many woman might decide to travel elsewhere for postnatal care service.
‘‘We’re not a small town and there’s a lot of people having babies,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s a service that will be missed.’’.
Shepparton Private Hospital chief executive Sheryl Keir said every year, about 100 women chose to stay at the hospital after they had given birth.
She said the service provided extra care and education which helped mothers go home rested and more confident with their new baby.
‘‘Australia is unfortunately experiencing a national midwife shortage and Shepparton Private Hospital is not immune to this,’’ Ms Keir said.
‘‘We have been tirelessly running an active campaign to recruit additional midwives for the past 18 months.
‘‘This has involved working closely with Regional Health Service Providers, DHHS and Ramsay Recruitment.’’
Ms Keir said despite the hospital’s best efforts, the decision was made to discontinue the postnatal service once all pre-booked patients were discharged from hospital this month.
‘‘I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the staff and doctors for their dedication to the postnatal service at Shepparton Private Hospital to date,’’ she said.
‘‘It is this support and commitment which has helped to contribute to many happy and healthy families in the Shepparton area over the past four decades.’’
Goulburn Valley Health was contacted for comment to address any perceived impact on the services, however did not provide a statement yesterday.
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