Community & Business
30 March, 2022
New service to assist regional births
A NEW con-clinical Midwifery Navigation Service has been established to provide additional support to woman travelling to Cairns from the Torres Strait, Northern Peninsula and Cape York to give birth.
This news comes just weeks after the Cooktown Hospital was forced to halt its birthing services due to a lack of critical staff.
Torres and Cape HHS Nurse Navigators manager Rachel Sargeant said the service would work with women from the Torres Strait, Northern Peninsula Area and Cape York and support them to navigate the system as easily and smoothly as possible.
“The new service is designed for women who must travel to Cairns to access specialist obstetric and maternity services not available at our local maternity services within the region,” she said.
“We expect the new service will benefit between 250–300 women a year who travel from the Torres Strait, Cape York, and Northern Peninsula area to Cairns.
“Our team of two midwifery consultants (Navigation) and two senior indigenous health workers will additionally support women before, during and after their journey to Cairns to give birth.
“But women with higher risk pregnancies, or other specialised needs, will continue to travel to Cairns or another larger centre to give birth for their and their babies’ safety.”
