WDHB and MDHB Share Same Midwifery Advisor
03/03/2011
| WDHB and MDHB Share Same Midwifery Advisor
Whanganui, and MidCentral District Health Boards have appointed new midwifery advisor, Dr Cheryl Benn, who will work for both boards under the centralAlliance joint Women’s Health Services.
Dr Benn has been midwifery advisor to the MDHB since October 2007. A registered nurse and midwife, with a doctorate in midwifery from the University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Dr Benn has been an International Board-certified lactation consultant since 1992.
Employed as a lecturer/senior lecturer/associate professor (Midwifery and Nursing) at Massey University since 1994, Dr Benn is also a self-employed Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) in the MidCentral DHB region providing home and hospital births since 2000 and supporting women living in rural areas. She is an instructor for Newborn Life Support and Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics, and a co-author of the New Zealand Pregnancy Book, published by Bridget Williams Books in 2009.
Dr Benn says the midwifery advisor role at MDHB was established to promote the Maternity Services Strategy and improve the interface between community and hospital (primary and secondary) maternity services and practitioners. A focus has been to ensure there are adequate numbers of well educated registered midwives available to provide mothers and babies with high quality care.
After developing a similar strategy, WDHB has looked at how it can be implemented across both DHBs as part of the centralAlliance joint Women’s Health Services project.
There are now 55 LMCs in Horowhenua, Dannevirke and the MDHB region, plus WDHB LMCs with access agreements to Palmerston North Hospital. In general, LMCs have access agreements with their local hospitals.
Dr Benn has also been involved in establishing and supporting Pregnancy Resource Centres throughout the centralAlliance district to inform women about who’s available to provide maternity care; how they access midwives, general practitioners who are LMCs and Obstetricians; and support maternity services as a whole.
The midwifery advisor role will see Dr Benn working one day a week (usually a Tuesday) in MidCentral DHB region, and another day (usually a Thursday) with WDHB.
MDHB primary health care senior portfolio manager Craig Johnston said the new midwifery advisor position was unique in New Zealand in that it came under the funding and planning unit of the two DHBs.
“This role has substantially improved the way the whole maternity service is provided with direct benefits for mothers and babies,” Mr Johnston says. “The relationship with Women’s and Child Health Services between the two DHBs also makes good sense.”
Whanganui District Health Board senior communications and media advisor Sue Campion, telephone (06) 348-1312; or MidCentral District Health Board communications spokesperson Dennis Geddis (06) 350-8900.