In November 2020 the then Southern District Health Board approved a recommendation to establish a primary birthing unit at Dunstan Hospital, near Clyde, and a second in Wānaka, seemingly ending what many women at the time described as a birthing Russian roulette.
The decision came after more than a year of calls for action, and a series of births in ad-hoc conditions and with no pain relief.
In February last year the proposed units were given a $7 million boost from the Ministry of Health, with the purchase of an Albert Town property to be renovated for the Wānaka facility announced the following July.
It was expected about half of the 180-200 women in the area cared for by lead maternity midwives would use the facility which, after renovations, would incorporate one birthing room and three postnatal stay rooms.
The announcement was met with a mix of excitement and relief from the regions midwives and expectant mums.
Plans for the 550sq m Clyde unit were released to the public two months later, with the developed designs revealing the facility would house two birthing rooms, postnatal stay rooms, a whanau room and community space.
At the time Te Whatu Ora Southern acting service manager — primary maternity Hannah Gentile said there was community support for the plans and it was hoped tenders for building contractors would open towards the end of the year.
Earlier this year the Clyde facility was thrown into doubt when Te Whatu Ora southern executive director of corporate services Nigel Trainor told the Health Select Committee construction costs for the proposed primary birthing unit in Clyde had come in "significantly higher" than anticipated and other options needed to be considered.
"We are now looking at a B plan and potentially doing a similar thing to what we did in Wānaka," Mr Trainor told the committee.
The health body had a property it was "potentially" going to look at, he said.
At the same time, Mr Trainor told the committee renovations on the Wānaka property were about to start — five months after and it was hoped the new facility would open in "a few months’ time".
That was mid-March.
The Otago Daily Times understands building consents for the Albert Town-based facility have not yet been lodged with the relevant consenting authority, the Queenstown Lakes District Council, however there had been "pre-application discussions", a Council spokesman said.
Te Whatu Ora — Southern director of midwifery Karen Ferraccioli confirmed a building consent for the Wānaka Birthing Unit would be lodged after the fire report, submitted last month, was approved.
The health authority had undertaken a "number of key pieces of work"in preparation for construction at the Wānaka primary birthing unit, Ms Ferraccioli said.
"While it has taken us longer than anticipated to get to this point, the project is currently on track to be within budget. At this stage we anticipate that the building will be open for use from early 2024," Ms Ferraccioli said.
Minor alterations would be made to the buildings layout during construction, with the major work lying in refitting the buildings internal systems — rewiring, plumbing, fire, mechanical/ventilation, and digital, along with the fit out of the interior spaces.
"Our top priority is to make sure the unit is operational as soon as possible," she said.
That is good news for Wānaka mothers, but their Central Otago counterparts still have a while before they will see their new facility.
Attempts to procure a construction partner for the Clyde Birthing Unit were "unsuccessful" with a second round to start late July.
Feedback from the first round would be used to inform the tender, Ms Ferraccioli said.
An update on construction and completion times would be available once a contractor was secured.
Questions from The News regarding whether Te Whau Ora still intended to build at the Dunstan Hospital site were left unanswered.
The Central Otago District Council confirmed a resource consent to construct a new primary birthing unit on the Dunstan hospital grounds was granted on October 10.
No building consent had been lodged.
"We are committed to providing the best possible care to families and our team is working hard on developing a new modern fit-for-purpose primary birthing unit for our Central Otago community," Ms Ferraccioli said.
