Budget 2026: Tauranga parents back three‑day postnatal stay plan as Nicola Willis boosts maternity funding
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When Kate Osborne heard Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ Budget would give mothers the choice of longer postnatal stays in hospital and birth care, she was surprised.
The Tauranga mum thought the three days she spent in hospital and birth care after daughter Frankie was born 11 weeks ago was what every mother got.
“I’m definitely very pro everyone having three days. I didn’t realise I just got lucky, that it wasn’t mandatory. We loved our postnatal stay.”
Willis promised $34.4 million over the next four years in yesterday’s Budget to allow those who’ve just given birth to stay in hospital or birth care facilities up to three days.
It’s not clear when the initiative will start, as a law change is required, and one health leader raised concerns about the impact of longer postnatal care on stretched services.
The Government announced last October it would back National MP Catherine Wedd’s Three-Day Postnatal Stay Amendment Bill, allowing mothers to stay in hospital or birthing units at least three days after their babies are born.
It would progress through Parliament as part of the Government’s legislative programme, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said at the time.
Osborne spent one night in Tauranga Hospital and then two nights at Bethlehem Birthing Centre after a vaginal birth “with a few complications”, which came 36 hours after the 36-year-old was induced.
In stitches, in pain, exhausted and learning with partner Joe Cant how to be first-time parents, she wouldn’t have felt ready to go home after 48 hours, the speech and language therapist said.
“I’m sure we would’ve survived, we have other supports, but I definitely feel like I did better having three days. We were still learning how to breastfeed, so it was really helpful to have midwives, nurses and lactation consultants literally just a push of a button away.
“And we had a few moments during the night where I wasn’t sure if the baby was okay … [and] somebody was just right there to come and check on her.”
Nearly three months on, Frankie is “doing great”, Osborne said.
“Birth care set us up well. We were in such a supportive, happy place. It just started us off really beautifully and she’s been fine ever since.”
Under Willis’ Budget announcement, the minimum 72-hour postnatal stay will apply from delivery if the mothers are in hospital, or from the time of admission to a postnatal facility.
Previously, discharges were based on patients’ specific needs, but some mothers and their families have felt this was earlier than they wished and needed.
Midwives’ union leader and working midwife Caroline Conroy welcomed the move.
As in Osborne’s case, many postnatal women were already spending three days in hospital or birth care, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service co-leader (midwifery) said.
“It now gives women confidence that they’re entitled to stay. That’s the difference.”
New Zealand College of Midwives chief executive Alison Eddy said more money for maternity services was always good, but she worried services could be put under pressure if there weren’t enough beds or staff.
The college told a select committee on Wedd’s bill that some maternity facilities could come under strain, with not all fully staffed.
“We want everyone to be able to have the care, and enough capacity in the system [for that] care.
“We really strongly support the intention of [Wedd’s] bill … but we’re trying to work through need versus entitlement, and it’s not really clear whether we might end up with people who don’t need to stay getting extra nights.”
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