Scone midwives petition to save local maternity services

Midwives from the Scone branch of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association have launched an e-petition to preserve maternity services at Scott Memorial Hospital. The campaign seeks to urge NSW Health Minister Ryan Park to intervene following the announcement that Scone will lose its obstetric services.

The move follows the impending retirement of the last obstetrician at the hospital, which threatens essential antenatal, birthing, and postnatal care for the Upper Hunter catchment area. Without local services, women in Scone will be required to travel approximately two and a half hours to Maitland Hospital for maternity care, a distance that advocates argue increases the risk of birth trauma and travel-related complications during labor.