VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital. 

Last updated:
31 October 2024

Some visitor restrictions for all Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury hospitals and health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and we encourage all people wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and visitors safe.

To keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people are advised to not visit our facilities if they are unwell. We advise that you do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.
  • Surgical/medical masks are encouraged to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Please practice hand hygiene with provided alcohol-based hand rub/gel

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our staff work hard to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People can visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear a surgical mask as a minimum – please use surgical masks provided.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours.

All visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers can be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where visitor restrictions might apply.

Patients and visitors can also read the additional COVID-19 related visiting guidelines .

Rangiora Community Maternity Unit

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Rangiora Health Hub does not have an Emergency Department

The nearest emergency medical care is at Christchurch Hospital , for non-emergency medical care go to an urgent care clinic. In a medical emergency, call 111 and ask for an ‘ambulance’.

We are baby-friendly accredited

We are a Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) accredited maternity unit, supporting mama and whānau to feed their babies.

For more information see www.babyfriendly.org.nz, you can also read our Breastfeeding Policy (400KB, PDF) 

You’re pregnant and have COVID-19? We’re here to support you (PDF, 800KB) pamphlet.

You’re pregnant and have COVID-19? 

During pregnancy, most people with COVID-19 will have a mild flu-like illness and it is unlikely to cause problems for you or your baby, especially if you have been vaccinated. 

Read more advice and find useful links and phone numbers in our You’re pregnant and have COVID-19? We’re here to support you (PDF, 800KB) pamphlet.

Rangiora Community Maternity Unit is located within the Rangiora Health Hub and is located approximately 40 minutes’ drive from Christchurch and provides primary birthing care and postnatal maternity services. In collaboration with your Lead Maternity Carer, Rangiora Hospital can offer you 24 hour, safe, flexible and supportive midwifery care during, and / or after, the birth of your baby.

Pregnancy and birth are normal physiological processes for the majority of women. If you have no complications detected, the option of birthing at a primary unit should be offered and encouraged. By choosing to birth at a primary facility, you are more likely to have a normal birth and less likely to need interventions. Most women who choose to birth at Rangiora do so, but occasionally a transfer to tertiary services at Christchurch Women's Hospital is necessary. Rangiora Hospital is fully equipped for childbirth, and the midwives are regularly trained to deal with emergencies.

Primary Birthing Units provide a relaxed homelike environment enabling uninterrupted birth and adjustment to parenthood, with time to support you during breastfeeding. This may include an extended stay to establish breastfeeding if you live remotely.

If you birth at Christchurch Women's Hospital, you can be transferred to Rangiora for your postnatal care, either directly from the Birthing Suite, or from the Maternity Ward.

You are welcome to come and see our facilities; simply call first and arrange with a midwife to show you around and answer any questions you may have.

The Friends of Rangiora Health Hub is a voluntary organisation who support and promote the services at Rangiora Health Hub and encourage community involvement. Their main fundraising comes from a well-stocked Plant Cart in the grounds and a craft cabinet with baby clothing.

Rangiora Maternity Unit Tour Video

You can also view this video on Vimeo.com

Video Transcript
[Video length: 4:46 minutes] [Music plays.] [Title: Rangiora Health Hub Maternity Unit – Virtual Tour]

Kia ora

I’m Suzanne, Charge Midwife at Rangiora Health Hub.

I’m going to take you on a virtual tour to show and inform you about the Rangiora Community Maternity Unit when you are considering choices of where to birth your baby.

The Community Maternity Unit is located in the Rangiora Health Hub on Ashley Street in North Canterbury 34 kilometres from Christchurch. It is a new purpose built facility. Which opened in 2015.

The unit provides birthing and postnatal care as well as general convalescent care. For well and healthy woman a community unit is an ideal safe and supportive environment to give birth.

You should talk to your Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) about your options. They will help you decide where the right place is for you.

If you birth at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, you will usually need to transfer to one of the community maternity units including Rangiora. When you arrive, please come through the main entrance. This is open during working hours.

If you come outside of these hours, please ring the bell, and we will come to you. We also have an entrance for women arriving in labour. Let’s go inside and take a look. Here is our reception.

We have three birthing rooms and 10 postnatal beds in the unit is staffed 24/7 by experienced DHB midwives and care is provided in conjunction with your Lead Maternity Carer (Midwife).

Let’s take a look at one of the birthing rooms. Two of our birthing rooms have pools for labour and birth. We also have active birth options that you may want to consider in labour.

One of our birthing rooms has a birthing couch for active birth. All of our rooms are fully equipped for labour and birth.

If you are coming to the unit in labour, follow the signs for the Birthing Unit entrance by driving around the back of the old Rangiora Hospital building.

You can park in the parking spaces allocated in this area and press the call bell at the Birthing Suite entrance.

Our DHB midwives will be waiting for you to arrive as your Lead Maternity Carer would have phoned to let us know you are on your way.

If there are changes to you or your baby’s well-being during labour, then the Lead Maternity Carer will discuss with you and your whānau options for your continued care.

The Lead Maternity Carers and our DHB Midwives work closely with Christchurch Women’s Hospital and can readily access specialist support and transfer if this is required.

We also have a whānau room for your support person to use during labour and birth.

After the birth of your baby, you will be transferred to one of our postnatal rooms for the rest of your stay with us.

All of our rooms are single rooms with a shared ensuite. All rooms have a TV and dedicated channel showing health information for you and your baby.

All rooms are serviced daily, and we have two queen beds available in two of our postnatal rooms for women birthing at Rangiora. Visiting hours are 10am to 12noon and 2pm to 8pm.

Partners are welcome from 7am to 10pm, and we have roll away beds available for partners to use in our postnatal rooms if they choose to stay for one night to provide support for their partner.

Our postnatal facilities include a baby bathing room and free nappies and baby wipes during a postnatal stay.

All our DHB midwives are skilled in providing breastfeeding support and we have been baby-friendly hospital initiative accredited since 2003. We are also able to refer you to a lactation consultant if this is required and newborn hearing screening testing is available at Rangiora on most days.

A lounge is available for you and your whānau to use during your stay. We have tea and coffee facilities, TV, toys, and a sunny-covered outdoor area for you to enjoy. Meals are also served here, and this is a great place to meet other mums. There is also ample free car parking available for visitors.

If you need further information, please feel free to go to our website or contact us directly. Thank you very much for joining us on our tour today and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Page last updated: 28 February 2023

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