Maternity care survey just Labour spin

Labour's trumpeting of a survey that apparently has nine out of ten women saying they were pleased with their maternity care is pure political spin to hide a worsening workforce crisis, says National Party MP Katrina Shanks.

"The real news in this Ministry of Health survey released today is that one in five women couldn't even find a lead maternity carer (LMC) in 2007, which is twice the rate of 2002.

"Fifteen DHBs are reporting a shortage of midwives. Capital and Coast are short of 10 midwives, there are 50 women in Wanganui who have no LMC, and other DHBs in the central region are reporting similar shortages.

"Associate Health Minister Steve Chadwick is completely out of touch is she thinks 'this is wonderful news for New Zealand women and their families'.

"Labour has ordered 43 reports into the health workforce crisis since it came to office and the situation just continues to worsen.

"Ms Chadwick says all key areas of maternity services scored satisfaction rates of 90% or higher, which is a direct contradiction to official information I received from DHBs earlier this year, which showed satisfaction rates are well below 90%.

"Pregnant women do not need misleading comments from misguided Ministers. They need a midwife.