Pregnant Women in Gove to Travel to Darwin or Katherine to Give Birth
Saturday February 21, 2009
Pregnant women in Gove, Northern Territory, will no longer have obstetricians at its local hospital, forcing them to travel to Darwin or Katherine to give birth.
The two obstetricians who work at Gove presently are not renewing their contracts that end in March and April, and no replacements have been found yet.
Gove hospital's lack of obstetricians means that Royal Darwin Hospital will struggle to meet demand in an environment of low resources, including staff.
The approximate 20 women who give birth every month in Gove will soon have to travel to Darwin or Katherine a few weeks before they are due to give birth with a $35 expense for accommodation, or in share accommodation offered by the Health Department.
Nhulunbuy mother Pam McKenzie, who is 21 weeks pregnant and also has an 11-month-old son told the Northern Territory News: "We've got no family and friends in Darwin. Who's going to pay for our transport and looking after our children?"
Health Department chief executive Dr David Ashbridge is confident that Darwin and Katherine hospitals will cope.
"I believe we've got the capacity to deal with it," he told the online news.
