Bush Summit: Pregnant women in regional NSW facing long wait times

Maternity wards without doctors and rubber mats in case women give birth on the way to hospital - this is what it’s like being pregnant in regional NSW.

Pregnant women in the bush are waiting months to see doctors for checkups, while others have been given “waterproof mats” in case they give birth when driving to their nearest functioning maternity wards.

In the central west town of Parkes, the maternity unit in the brand new $72.8m hospital has not had a birth since 2019 when three long-serving doctors retired and were not replaced.

The empty ward is set to be converted into a Covid-19 holding pen in coming weeks if cases spike in the bush.

The suspension of maternity services means expecting mothers now have to travel to neighbouring Forbes, 30km away, for basic birthing services, or Dubbo (120km) and Orange (100km) for advanced care.

The maternity unit at Parkes Hospital hasn’t had a birth since 2019.

Western NSW Health has blamed the staff shortfall on “very difficult” recruitment conditions, saying three rounds of job advertisements had failed to find a single appropriate candidate to fill desperately needed maternity roles.

Parkes joins other regional hubs such as Cobar, Bourke and Yass without a functioning birthing ward.

The Daily Telegraph on Monday revealed that many bush hospitals were being forced to care for patients without doctors physically present because of severe staffing shortages.

Parkes Mayor Ken Keith, who has lobbied for a rural health minister to be appointed to oversee the bush, told a NSW parliamentary inquiry into regional healthcare that his town deserved maternity services.

“This is not acceptable in a town with a population of 12,000 people and a shire population of 15,000 people,” he said.

Parkes mother India Rauchle with her son Sol. Picture: Supplied

Mr Keith told The Daily Telegraph that the whole of country NSW was suffering from a drought of doctors and health experts.

“The whole system to me is broken … it‘s not just Parkes that has this issue, it’s the whole of rural NSW,” he said.

Parkes sisters India and Brandy Rauchle have six kids between them, with elder sister India describing the lack of accessible facilities as “really scary”.

“I feel like you’re left with no answers; if your baby does have something wrong with it, you’ve got to travel an hour before you can get any help,” she said.

“You know that help is so far away, if you feel like something is wrong you’ve got to scream so loud because help is so scarce.”

When India suffered a late-term miscarriage this year, she had to wait a week to see a doctor for the follow-up procedure.

“I just lost one baby a little while ago and I had to ring over in Forbes to try and get in there,” she said.

Brandy said she was given a waterproof mat – known as a “bluey” – in case she gave birth on the drive to Forbes Hospital.

Rural Doctors Association of Australia president John Hall said about 150 maternity units had been closed or suspended across regional Australia in the past 15 years.

“We say it’s a crisis and scream it from the mountain tops but nothing is done,” he said.

A Western NSW Local Health District spokesman said “the maternity sector nationally and internationally is experiencing workforce shortages, particularly in rural and remote regions, and has been for a considerable period of time”. He said recruitment of skilled midwives for Parkes had “proven very difficult”, with the district now embarking on a targeted overseas recruitment campaign.

Labor health spokesman Ryan Park described the situation as “completely unacceptable”.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard was contacted for comment.