Te Kotuku - Maternity services
Te Kotuku is both a primary and secondary facility.
Contact us
Contact the maternity service on:
Iona Cameron-Smith – Midwife Manager
Phone: 021 824 618
Email: Iona.Cameron-Smith@northlanddhb.org.nz
Sue Bree – Midwifery Director and Service Manager - Maternity Service
Email: sue.bree@northlanddhb.org.nz
Location and visiting hours
Visiting hours
Visiting hours are 11am to 8pm every day.
Location
Te Kotuku Maternity unit is accessible from Hospital Road.
About the maternity service
You will be cared for by your Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) in labour with the hospital midwives supporting your LMC in the delivery suite. The hospital midwives will look after your if you are under secondary obstetric care due to a more complicated pregnancy. They will also care for you in the postnatal ward before you go home.
If you need more intensive care or go into labour under 32 weeks you will be flown to Auckland for specialist care and return when baby is stable.
The postnatal ward looks after antenatal women who need to stay in hospital before birth as well as women who have had their baby.
An average stay is usually about 2 to 3 days after a normal birth and 4 to 5 days following a caesarean-section.
A Lactation Consultant is available to help breastfeeding women.
The midwives work closely with women who are involved with other services such as Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Dependency.
Hospital midwives also provide childbirth education classes.
Maternity Services employs inpatient and outpatient maternity social workers to work alongside women and their LMC. They will visit all women who are referred or as requested and initiate individual support for them and their families.
All Health NZ Te Tai Tokerau maternity units have gained Baby-Friendly Hospital status. A Baby-Friendly Hospital (BFH) is a health care facility where the practitioners who provide care for women and babies adopt practices that aim to protect, promote and support exclusive breastfeeding from birth. At the same time, Baby-Friendly facilities ensure that women who choose not to breastfeed are supported in their decision and provided with unbiased information and advice.