Wednesday 25 November 2015
Plunket to Provide Pregnancy and Parenting Education Services

Southern DHB is in the process of negotiating an agreement with the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society (Inc) to run free Pregnancy and Parenting Education Services (PPE) for pregnant women, with a focus on first-time mothers.

Sandra Boardman, Executive Director Planning and Funding, says the SDHB is pleased that it will have Plunket delivering this service as it will ensure equity of service across the district.

“It is an organisation with a long history of helping women and their families through the transitional phase between pregnancy and motherhood. This will be an exciting and innovative new programme focusing on equipping parents with important information throughout their pregnancy as well as information on how to care for their babies after the birth.

“Having a single provider means we can have a consistent community-based service across the district. Plunket has also offered us an innovative package with extensive use of technology, including providing online education programmes for more remote areas, which will help increase access to PPE services.”

The change was prompted after the Ministry of Health released new service specifications for PPE in May 2014. Meeting these new specifications was a key part of the tendering process and the SDHB conducted a request for proposals in October 2015 to identify a provider to deliver the service throughout the Southern district. The service is currently provided by eight NGO providers as well as Dunedin Public Hospital.

Mrs Boardman says it is a free service for all eligible pregnant women and support people, although the classes are predominantly focussed on meeting the needs of first-time parents. Women are encouraged to enrol as soon as they have had their pregnancy confirmed. They will be able to do this a number of ways directly with Plunket (either through their online portal, texting or phoning), additionally women can be provided information via their lead maternity carer/primary healthcare provider.

“There will, of course, be a transition period between now and the 1 April 2016 when Plunket take over from our existing providers. If women have already enrolled for a course before this date then they should carry on as planned. If women wish to start classes after the 1 April 2016 they will be able to sign up with Plunket in the coming months.”

Plunket will inform all stakeholders of the enrolment processes over the coming months.

ends

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