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Last updated:
27 May 2025

Canterbury Waitaha health information is moving. Content is moving to the Health New Zealand website info.health.nz/canterbury This website will be unavailable from Wednesday 4 June 2025.

Christchurch Women’s Hospital Maternity Services

Overview

Birthing Suite on the third floor of Christchurch Women's Hospital and accessed via the front entrance on the ground floor. Please contact your lead maternity carer (LMC) in the first instance as your LMC will notify Birthing Suite when you are expected to arrive, so the Ward Clerk can welcome you at the reception desk and Birthing Suite can be prepared for your arrival.

The clinical team of doctors and midwives liaise closely with you and your LMC to ensure you are able to make informed choices about your care. Please ask to speak to the at Clinical Midwife Manager at anytime if you wish to discuss your care during your time in the Birthing Suite, or the Midwife Manager during business hours.

Features

  • 13 self-contained rooms with en-suite bathrooms
  • Two of the rooms have a pool for water birth
  • Five assessment rooms
  • Four admission beds 
  • Two operating theatres
  • Four Post Anaesthesia Care Beds (PACU)
  • Garden room for whānau experiencing fetal loss
  • Acute Observation Unit (AOU) - two beds for women who are acutely unwell.
  • Free public Wi-Fi

Whānau Room

Outside of Birthing Suite there is a whānau lounge that have tea and coffee making facilities, and a television. There are no cooking facilities. Meals are provided for women who are staying. It is recommended your support people bring their own food and drink.

Transfer from Birthing Suite

Well women and their babies may transfer to one of the community birthing units closer to home for ongoing postnatal care, commonly after 2 hours following a vaginal birth.

If you wish to discuss your care at any time during your stay, ask to speak to the Clinical Midwife Manager or the Midwife Manager during business hours.

 

Christchurch Women's Hospital Outpatients holds specialist clinics every day. Your LMC midwife or GP will refer you if you have:

  • a pre-existing medical condition
  • a problem in a previous pregnancy
  • a multiple pregnancy
  • any type of pregnancy related problem

Before you attend an outpatient’s appointment, you will receive an appointment letter which will tell you the date and time of your appointment as well as the clinic team that will care for you.

If an ultrasound has been organised in the hospital for you, and you cannot attend, the staff or your LMC can organise an ultrasound in the community, with the surcharge paid by yourself.

If you are offered an ultrasound appointment at the hospital or you need to change. Please call the Radiology Department on 03 364 0618.

If you need to contact the hospital for any reason, please quote your hospital number which you will find on your letter. If you wish to change your appointment, please contact the Maternity Outpatients Department as soon as possible so that the appointment can be offered to another pregnant woman.

A chaplain is available at Christchurch Women's Hospital to respond to women, and their families/whanau. If you are giving birth at another facility you can request to be put in contact with a chaplain through the Charge Midwife Manager.

Interpreters

An Interpreter Service is available for people who are deaf or for whom English is not their first language. Please talk to your LMC or hospital midwife who can contact the interpreter / translator service.

Our interpreter service is available 24 hours a day and should be used whenever a lack of ability in the English language could restrict understanding of a patient's needs, rights and obligations. The translation/interpreter service is provided FREE at no charge to patients and there are a large number of languages available, including NZ sign language.

If you wish to notify the interpreting service of your impending admission to hospital please email the service at interpreterbookings@cdhb.health.nz or phone 03 364 0669.

Provides care to pregnant women from 24 weeks gestation that have been identified by an obstetrician as requiring extra monitoring during pregnancy. This unit, containing three lazy boy chairs, allows you to remain at home with your family and attend the hospital for appointments to receive the extra monitoring required. This is a Monday - Friday service (8.00am - 4.30pm).

Your first point of contact for general enquiries and advice about your pregnancy is your LMC.

Following a consultation with an obstetric doctor/specialist obstetrician in the maternity clinics, or assessment on Birthing Suite/admission to the Maternity Ward, you may be referred to the DAU for increased monitoring of your pregnancy. Please remember to bring your pregnancy notes with you on every visit.

If you do need to visit the Day Assessment Unit, you will be assessed, examined, treated and advised by midwives where applicable or referred to an obstetrician if necessary. Visiting DAU can prevent an overnight or longer stay in hospital thus allowing you to remain at home longer during your pregnancy.

Location: The Day Assessment Unit is located on the ground floor of Christchurch Women's Hospital.

It is easily accessible through the Radiology Department entrance that is to the right of Christchurch Women's Hospital entrance. As your visit should always be pre-arranged, the reception staff will be expecting you.

Phone: 03 364 4272
Fax: 03 364 4471

Ngā Ratonga Hauora Māori (The Māori Health Service) is available to help women and whānau through their hospital journey with culturally appropriate advice and support. Specially trained staff provide āwhina/help and tautoko/support with cultural issues, education on tikanga (values and beliefs) and referral to the appropriate resources available in the community for both Māori and mainstream organisations.

The Māori Health Worker, Kaiawhina Whaea me ngā Pēpi is part of the multi-disciplinary team at Christchurch Women's Hospital and is available to all women admitted to hospital, to provide support and education on cultural issues, information sharing and referral.

Find more information at Māori and Pasifika Health

Maternal Fetal Medicine is a branch of women's health which includes high-risk pregnancy where the mother or baby or both has a problem. The expectation is that your pregnancy will be a happy time without any problems and you will not need fetal medicine services. However, if you do, these services are provided throughout New Zealand.

Visit New Zealand Maternal Fetal Medicine Network

The clinics are Monday to Friday, but not everyday. This is an acute service and therefore waiting times may vary.

Phone: 03 364 4557
Fax: 03 364 4411

Specialist Mental Health Services

Maternal mental health in the primary setting is managed by general practitioners. The specialist mental health service provides a secondary regional service for maternal mental health, which includes the Mother and Baby Unit located at The Princess Margaret Hospital. It is the only inpatient service for the South Island. Referral to this services is usually by a GP.

If you suffer an acute (emergency) mental health issue, you can be referred by an individual, family member, GP, Obstetrician, lead maternity care midwife or community service to the single point of entry (SPOE) service at Christchurch Hospital.

General Advice

Being pregnant and becoming a mother can be an anxious time for some women. If you have any concerns around your mental health during pregnancy, talk to your LMC or GP for support and advice.

The following links may also be helpful:

The Maternity Assessment Unit is a midwifery-led unit which provides care to women/wāhine who have concerns during their pregnancy (22 weeks onwards). It provides assessment and monitoring, and women work with their LMC (Lead Maternity Carer) to make a plan.

A midwife or your LMC can make a referral to an obstetrician or a doctor who works at Christchurch Women’s Hospital if required. Service hours are 7.00am to 10pm, 7 days a week.

If you are worried about your baby/pēpi or yourself when you are pregnant your first point of contact for advice is your LMC (Lead Maternity Carer). They will carry out the first assessment with you and may ask you to meet them at the Maternity Assessment Unit if they think you should meet one of our midwives for a second opinion.

Whānau/family are welcome to support you during your visit to the Unit. Our aim is for you to be seen and have a care plan in place within three hours. If we are very busy or if you need to have further time for observation or care this will take longer, but if so we will discuss with you at the time.

Location

The Maternity Assessment Unit is located on the ground floor of Christchurch Hospital. Come in the main doors of Christchurch Hospital and follow the signage to the Unit which is on the ground floor of Parkside.

If you prefer, ask one of the volunteers in the main reception area to help you get there.

Maternity Assessment Unit location map

To contact the Maternity Assessment Unit, call 03 378 6410

Transfer from the Maternity Assessment Unit

Once you have been assessed, if you and your pepi (baby) are well you will be able to go home. If your plan is for more monitoring, or if you need to be admitted it will either be to Birthing Suite or to the Maternity Ward, whichever is best for you.

If you wish to discuss your care at any time please don’t hesitate to contact the Associate Clinical Midwife Manager of the Unit, Louise McKinney or the Charge Midwife Manager of the Unit, Sonya Matthews. Phone: 03 378 6411.

Maternity clinics are held four times a week. Pregnant women are referred to these clinics by their LMCs and GPs. LMCs are welcome to be part of this consultation. The maternity clinics provide each LMC with a letter after each consultation.

Twice a week, obstetric physicians are available at the maternity clinics to see women with medical conditions prior to pregnancy and medical conditions developed during pregnancy.

Diabetes Education Clinics

This is a multi-disciplinary clinic held each Monday with an obstetrician, physician, midwife and dietician

Methadone in Pregnancy

These are held each Tuesday with a dedicated midwife and team from Community and Alcohol Services (CADS).

Core Midwifery Clinic

These are held each Wednesday for women who require interpreter services or whose social issues require extra input. Christchurch Women's Hospital do not supply LMCs.

Birth after Caesarean Section Clinic

These are held each Thursday morning. You will be referred here by your LMC or GP early in your pregnancy to discuss mode of birth for this pregnancy. You will be seen by an obstetrician.

Anaesthetic Clinic

Prior to your caesarean section, you will be seen in this clinic by a midwife and anaesthetist to complete your pre-admission. These clinics are held on a Monday and Wednesday afternoon.

Location - Ground Floor, Christchurch Women's Hospital
Midwifery Enquiry line (how to find an LMC)
Phone: 03 364 4419

Maternity Clinics

Phone: 03 364 4454
Fax: 03 364 4301

Diabetes Midwife

Phone: 03 364 4420 (answer machine available after hours)

Radiology Department

Phone: 03 364 0618

What we Offer

The Maternity Outpatients Department at Christchurch Women's Hospital includes the Day Assessment Unit and Fetal Maternal Medicine.

Maternity clinics are held every weekday and include the General Obstetric Clinic, High Risk Obstetric Clinic, Core Midwifery Clinic, Methadone in Pregnancy Clinic and Anaesthetic Pre-admission Clinic.

Features and highlights

  • Baby feeding and change room
  • Great Escape Café - Monday to Friday: 7am - 7:30pm, Weekends & public holidays: 9am - 7.30pm
  • Public phones
  • Free public Wi-Fi

Overview

The Maternity Ward is a 45 bed antenatal / postnatal unit located on the fifth floor.

The length of stay postnatally on the Maternity Ward is assessed on an individual clinical basis of both mother and baby. Only women with complex needs (including caesarean section) or with babies with complex needs are admitted to the maternity ward. Midwives and Nurses are available throughout your stay on Maternity Ward, to offer support and advice for breastfeeding, Lactation consultants are available for specialised assistance.

We recognise the importance of a support person overnight during the early stages of your postnatal stay. We will do our best to facilitate their stay, so they can support you.

If you wish to discuss your care at anytime during your stay, ask to speak to the Acting Clinical Midwife Manager or the Midwife Manager.

Visiting hours

Who can visitVisiting times
Support Person & Siblings of the baby8am – 9pm
Open visiting10am – 8pm

Features and highlights

Include icons for features

  • 45 bed antenatal / postnatal unit
  • Nine beds are multipurpose double rooms with a shared en-suite
  • 27 rooms are single rooms with an en-suite used mostly after birth
  • 2 isolation rooms
  • Whānau room and Facilities
    There is a whānau lounge at the Hagley end of the ward – rooms 35. There is also a small kitchenette where families can warm food in the microwave, store foods in the fridge – please ensure it is labelled and make hot drinks

Transfer from the Maternity Ward

Once you and your pēpi are well you have the option to transfer to a Community Birthing Unit stay for ongoing postnatal care or discharge home. If you have had a caesarean section this will commonly occur between 24 - 48 hours depending on your recovery.

If your baby is in the Neonatal Unit you will be admitted to Maternity Ward for 48 hours and maybe discharged home while your baby remains in hospital.

The Neonatal Service provides 24-hour care for newborn babies with a variety of special needs at Christchurch Women's Hospital. This includes prematurity, surgery, congenital abnormalities and babies who may have been compromised at birth.

Care is provided by a skilled and experienced multi-disciplinary team utilising current evidence based practice. There are 11 intensive cots and 30 special care cots.

See our Neonatal Service web pages for more information, including visiting hours and virtual tours of the unit.

The nutrition service is staffed by NZ registered dieticians and is available for women, Monday to Fridays, who are using maternity services. Staff see women as outpatients and inpatients for individualised nutrition assessment and advice. Referrals can be made by your LMC or doctor to discuss any of the following:

  • Early pregnancy nausea and vomiting management
  • Healthy eating for pregnancy
  • Food safety in pregnancy
  • Nutrition for multiple pregnancy
  • Guide to healthy weight gain in pregnancy
  • Diabetes in pregnancy including gestational diabetes
  • Healthy eating for breastfeeding
  • Advice on nutritional supplements in pregnancy and breastfeeding

Find more information at Nutrition Services

Physiotherapy staff see women as outpatients and inpatients for individualised advice about looking after your body after childbirth. Referrals can be made by your LMC or GP to discuss any of the following:

  • Pelvic floor muscle exercises
  • Sitting and standing posture
  • Lifting
  • Separation of abdominal muscle
  • After caesarean section
  • Rest and exercise

Find more information and advice at Women's Health pages at Healthinfo

You can also find a video with tips to recover from giving birth in the Post-natal care part of the Pregnancy and Birth Journey page of this maternity section.

The Christchurch Women's Hospital social work and counselling services provide support, information, referral to community agencies, assistance with decision making, advocacy and short and long term counselling services for a range of issues. Your LMC midwife can arrange a referral if needed.

Sometimes you may need to attend a clinic appointment with your children. It is important to advise you that there are no childcare facilities available. If you are unable to attend without bringing your children with you, please remember that they are your responsibility.

A breastfeeding room and baby changing facilities are available in the reception area of Outpatients.

There is a small café available in the foyer of Christchurch Women's Hospital. There is also a shop at Christchurch Hospital where you can buy newspapers, magazines etc.

There are public phones available in several areas of the hospital. Mobile phones are allowed in public areas, but not in the clinical areas.

CafesOpening hoursPayment method
Great Escape Café9am - 7.30pm, 7 days.Cash and Cashless payments
Willow Lane, Waipapa8am - 8pm, 7 days.Cashless transactions only
Kanuka, Outpatients7am - 3.30pm, Monday - Friday.​Cashless transactions only
PeaBerry, Waipapa
7am - 3.30pm, Monday - Friday.Cashless transactions only
Parkside Café
7am - 3pm, Monday - Friday.Cash and Cashless payments
Christchurch Women's Hospital Café8am - 2pm, Monday - Friday.Cashless transactions only

Page last updated: 27 March 2025

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