Ashburton Courier: November 18, 2021

www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Ashburton High School’s class of 1960 yesterday at areunion lunch gathering.
Classof1960 catch­up
AshburtonHigh Schoolpupils
from the classof1960 enjoyed
lunch and acatch­upyesterday.
The former schoolmates
dined at thenew MSA
restaurant,Noble 600.
Most of the 25 gatheredcame
together lastyear to mark the 60
year milestone.
The class of 1960are all now
mostly73or74years old and
those at the gathering were
from Ashburton andthe wider
Canterburyarea.
Around 25 other former
pupils wholive around New
Zealand and in Australia were
unabletomake thisreunion
luncheon or last year’s because
of covid restrictions.
Backin1960, Ashburton
HighSchool had around 400
pupils.
Ashburton’s othersenior
school atthe timewas the
technical school.
The two schools mergedin
1965toform Ashburton
College, which today has
around 1200pupils.
NEWS
Ashburton Courier, November 18, 2021
27
Birthing hospital
overloaded
An unprecedented 540 births at
Christchurch Women’s Hospital
last month has promptedaplea
for expectant mothers to avoid
giving birththere, if medically
feasible.
Canterbury District Health
Board directorofmidwifery
Norma Campbell is concerned
the numberofwomen using the
birthing facility could
compromise those who needed
the service the most.
‘‘ChristchurchWomen’s
Hospital is for women whoare
higher risk and therefore
require more complex care and
after the volumes of last month,
it would be ideal if women gave
more consideration to their local
community units,’’ she said. The
arrivals lastmonth were the
highest on record.
‘‘For women who are healthy
and expected to give birth to a
healthy baby withnoanticipated
complications, we believe our
community­based birthingunits
provide the ideal environment
for giving birth.
‘‘At the moment in Canterbury
we have anumber of highquality
primary birthing facilities, and a
number of womenalso choose to
give birthathome.’’
New mothersdid not
necessarily have to travel to
Christchurch Women’s Hospital,
with maternity units located in
Lincoln and Rangiora, plus
further afield in Kaikoura and
Ashburton, she said.
Each year more than 5500
womengive birth at
Christchurch Women’s
Hospital, making it the largest
secondary/tertiary hospital in
the South Island.
Last month’s birth rate ­
more than 17 per day ­
eclipsed the previous record
of 530 in August 2008.
The popularity of
Christchurch Women’s
Hospital was evident earlier
this year whenthe Maia
Health Foundation raised
$65,000 for 30 specialist chairs
so support people for new
mothers did not have to sleep
on the floor.
Meanwhile, the New
Zealand College of Midwives
remains on tenterhooks as
members unwillingtobe
vaccinated against Covid­19
sacrificed their careers. A
Ministry of Health order
requires all health care
practitioners ­including
midwives­tobe vaccinated in
order to remain in the
workforce,the deadline to
have the first or two jabs was
11.59pm on November15.
~Star News