Tamworth midwives warn expectant mums they might be turned away

It comes as staffing issues at Tamworth hospital reach breaking point.

A 36-week pregnant woman, who did not want to be named, told the Leader that during her antenatal appointment recently she was warned to "be prepared, you may not have your baby here".

"I was basically told there is no staff no midwives, no doctors and she has already had to turn mums away and send them elsewhere," the mother-to-be said.

"There is a high chance that, due to me being inducted and having a date, the day I get to Tamworth hospital, there may be other women ahead of me. They could tell me to go elsewhere."

She was told she may get shipped to Armidale, Maitland, or John Hunter in Newcastle.

"I won't know this until the day before or the day of my induction," she told the Leader.

And she said the situation has been made even more "stressful" by the fact she has been deemed a "high-risk pregnancy" due to the potential of developing preeclampsia.

"It is ridiculous that they are pushing mums away. We are in a city, in a big town," she said.

"We are getting pushed to Newcastle, where I have to sit for four hours in a car with my high-risk baby because they can't accommodate us here."

The woman said she had also spoken to another Tamworth woman, who was mid-way through labour when she was sent to Armidale hospital to give birth. She only just made it in time.

There is currently an acknowledged shortage of midwives and nurses across NSW.

A local obstetrician told a state inquiry in June that Tamworth hospital was 58 per cent deficit in its midwifery staff and half of on-call consultant and registrar shifts were being covered by locum doctors.

On Tuesday, July 23, NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) Tamworth branch members ramped up their calls for the state government to step in. Rallies were also held in Armidale and Manilla.

Nicola Stockwell told the Leader on that day she has been a midwife for more than 35 years and has worked in Tamworth for four of those.

"Sydney hospitals are short-staffed, but this [Tamworth] is worse. We are a small community and there are only a certain number of us here," she said.

Tamworth hospital is a rural referral hospital. That means patients can be transferred to Tamworth from right across the district, including Glen Innes, Moree, Inverell, Narrabri, Gunnedah, and Armidale.

"This is every weekend, not just every now and then," Ms Stockwell said.

"The outlying hospitals don't have medical cover on the weekend, and there may be only four or five of us on shift, and ambulances bring women from other country towns, who have been displaced and removed from their own communities."

NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association Tamworth branch secretary Jill Telfer said the Tamworth hospital maternity unit has reached "crisis point".

"(We) have a 60 per cent vacancy of midwives at the moment and it has gotten worse as of late," she said.

"As a branch, we have been very worried for our midwives members."

And solutions being applied elsewhere are not available here.

When NSW Health Minister Ryan Park last visited Tamworth he spoke about the problem with branch members.

"He was gonna look if we were eligible for the $20,000 incentives to attract midwives to Tamworth," Ms Telfer.

"Tamworth was not eligible due to the level of hospital we are."

The Leader contacted Hunter New England Health (HNEH) for comment.

A spokesperson said Tamworth hospital continues to provide maternity care for women and babies.

"Transfers to alternate or higher-level care are made when necessary, including to Armidale and sometimes John Hunter and Maitland hospitals for specialised care or unexpected workforce shortages," the spokesperson said.

"We acknowledge how disruptive and stressful it can be when the planned location of birth changes and we sincerely apologise to any women who have experienced unexpected changes due to workforce shortages."