Wānaka's new birthing centre, Rākai Kahukura, gave one mum the shivers when she entered it for the first time this week - but in a good way.
Rākai Kahukura opened on Thursday for antenatal services and from Monday it will also begin offering birthing and postnatal services.
It was blessed by Kai Tahu last month in the presence of the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Health Minister Shane Reti, national media and a large supporting cast of Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) Southern staff.
This week’s walkthrough was a chance for local midwives to invite their colleagues and local network from a range of Wānaka health organisations to celebrate the facility, which the town lobbied for years to get.
Wānaka Breastfeeding Peer Support Group member Aleisha Murphy, a mum of four, said "it gives me the shivers, but in a good way".
"I am tempted to go for a fifth", she joked.
She had her first child in Dunedin Hospital and her next three at the Charlotte Jean maternity unit in Alexandra.
"What I like is that in Wānaka, you just knew when you went into labour, you would have to go on a long drive. Now you don’t have to do that. It is just five minutes away."
The birthing room and four, accessible, postnatal en suite bedrooms are fully furnished.
The final pieces of the jigsaw include children’s toys and wall art.
Processes are under way to complete a landing pad, for emergency helicopter landings only, in situations when a mother and her baby need extra help at Dunedin Hospital, nearly four hours drive away.
HNZ Wānaka midwife manager Morgan Weathington said HNZ Southern was recruiting more midwives, both caseloading and core, for Wanaka and Alexandra.
While there was just one specialised birthing room, one of the four postnatal rooms could be easily used for birthing if more than one baby arrived at a time.
There was also scope for supporting babies and families with complex needs, she said.
Wānaka Plunket community services co-ordinator Bryony Illsley said that as a mother of two, she felt tears welling as she walked in Rākai Kahukura.
"This is going to change lives for parents and for midwives."
Mrs Weathington agreed.
"Partners can just go home to feed the dog or do whatever it may be, and not have to relocate the whole family", she said.
She praised Aspiring Knitters, who had done an incredible job making baby clothes and blankets.
