Health Minister says new Shellharbour hospital will have birth services – 'eventually'

The new Shellharbour Hospital being built at Dunmore will “eventually” have birthing services, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park told Better Births Illawarra's Ask Your Politicians forum on Friday night. 

But not until there are enough midwives to staff it.

“I grew up in this suburb, in Dapto. I understand the massive growth in the south,” said Park, Labor’s state member for Keira. “But I've also got responsibilities as health minister to constituents to make sure these things are safe.

"As late as this week, I spoke to the current head of the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Marg Martin … she said at the moment we would not have the staff to split between the two sites [Wollongong and Shellharbour hospitals].”

About 70 parents, health experts and community leaders attended the first town hall of the 2027 NSW Election campaign, a family-friendly event held in a meeting room opening to a playground at Dapto Ribbonwood Community Centre.

Discussion ran from 6-7.30pm, punctuated by the murmur of babies and the tumble of rattles. 

“We have VIPs here, but I think you'd agree that the VIPs of this room are the babies,” said Better Births Illawarra (BBI) president Sharon Settecase. 

Fiona Reid – the Australian College of Midwives' Midwife of the Year – led a panel that included Labor MPs Anna Watson, the Member for Shellharbour, and Paul Scully, the Member for Wollongong. 

Also represented were two new candidates for Wollongong, Malika Reese (the Greens) and Ryan Chapman (NSW Socialists); and two candidates for Keira, Kylie Flament (Independent) and Tim Laver (Animal Justice Party).

Open once it's 'safe'

Ahead of the March 2027 NSW Election, BBI has joined a coalition calling on the Minns Labor Government to act faster on reforms promised after the Birth Trauma Inquiry report two years ago. Locally, debate centres on the new Shellharbour Hospital, set to cater for pre- and post-natal services, but not childbirth.

The eight-storey, $700-million hospital is expected to open in late 2027.

“It looks gorgeous. Except it's missing a whole wing,” Reid said to the panel. 

“What are you going to do about that?”

Shellharbour MP Anna Watson said she’s advocated for maternity services for a decade but safe staffing is critical. “The minute that we have the staff to staff that unit, then we will open it.

"The space is there, the wing is there. It will be open, but it won't be open until it is safe to do so.”

The government has recruited over 330 new midwives, an increase of 10.5%, since 2023, Watson said. "We are committed to to recruiting more."

Since the Birth Trauma Inquiry’s report, the government has opened three new home birthing services, six new or expanded Midwifery Antenatal and Postnatal Services (MAPS) and 10 new Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) clinics.

Staffing remains a problem, however, with Reid saying: “Whilst there's been an employment drive, there's also massive attrition. So whilst we're recruiting midwives, we're losing them faster than we can recruit.”

MP Paul Scully said: “We are dealing with, unfortunately, a global shortage of midwives.”

BBI’s president drew on a sporting analogy to explain how a birth centre at Shellharbour could be a midwifery-led measure to fill the gap. “It's the summer soccer version of the winter soccer [hospital birth suite] with the amount of staffing that you need,” Settecase said.

Question of risk

Independent candidate Kylie Flament said the system is too focused on managing risk. “We're so risk averse that we're not asking ourselves, is this the best that we can do? Is this the best option available to us in this moment with these resources, with the midwives we have?

"Because the alternative to opening a birthing unit that is less than perfect is that babies will be born on the side of the road, as we saw in Queensland last week… We will have more women free birthing at home with no care with them.”

“Risk is an interesting topic,” Reid said, recommending Deborah Lupton's book Risk. “The authority and the bottom line about risk is often described by people with the most power – and that's not the woman having the baby.”

Malika Reese – who was among more than 4000 women to testify at 2023's Birth Trauma Inquiry – supported mothers being involved in the co-design of birth centres. The Greens candidate was “horrified” at the distance to hospital for birthing women in Shellharbour. “Especially when it's such a family-oriented area … especially if it's your second child and that baby's coming out in like 10, 20 minutes.

“We can't wait for perfection in order to have alternatives for women to give birth. There needs to be something, even if it's an interim.”

NSW Socialists' Ryan Chapman described the Shellharbour situation as “outrageous”, while Animal Justice Party candidate Tim Lavers – whose upper house member Emma Hurst led the Birth Trauma Inquiry – said people should vote for change. “We're in a very, very, very safe Labor seat,” he said. “Make the seat marginal, make all of them marginal, and then you'll get better stuff.”

In response, Health Minister Park said: “The Shellharbour Hospital is over $700 million, Shoalhaven [hospital redevelopment] is $440 million, we’re pumping over $200 million into Wollongong Hospital.

"That's the single largest investment in health services in a generation."

Changes to look at

Testimony from BBI members was instrumental in the government committing to 42 Birth Trauma Inquiry reforms, including continuity of midwifery care, trauma-informed care and access to home birth. Friday night's questions may lead to more change locally, with the Health Minister to consider private homebirth midwives being given visiting rights to work with women in labour at Wollongong Hospital as a way of relieving staffing pressures and boosting women’s choice.

“That's something I'm certainly prepared to have a look at,” Park said. 

He also committed to following up with the federal government on insurance exemptions for a second private midwife attending home births.

Power of advocacy

Park said working with BBI has given him “greater perspective” and paid tribute to “the women and families in this room speaking their truth”.

In July 2026, NSW Health published its first guideline on Respectful Maternity Care and a tender is set to go out for trauma-informed training of health professionals, “because of the advocacy of groups like Better Births Illawarra”, the minister said. 

“This will be the first of its kind. It's part of a $44 million package of maternity services that we are delivering, not with the aim of saying that is job done, far from it … there needs to be a lot more improvement."

While Kiama’s Liberal candidate Serena Copley sent apologies, there were no candidates from the Liberal Party, the Nationals or One Nation present to shed light on their policies.

During Q&A time, one mother said “commitments mean nothing if someone else wins at the next election” and asked what could be done in the next four months.

Minister Park said: “We want to get this tender out for the training… I want to recruit more midwives. I want to see if I can get another MGP up. I want to see if I can get another home birther.”

Questions were also asked about hospital privatisation, the quality of local care and – in a compelling reminder of why volunteers united to form BBI 10 years ago – one mother wept on asking what is being done to provide ongoing compassionate, affordable care for those who have suffered birth trauma, stillbirth or pregnancy loss.

What's next

On November 21, BBI will hold a rally at North Wollongong as part of the statewide Birth Without Trauma election campaign. For more information, visit their website.

Town hall to demand action on birth trauma reforms

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The Illawarra FlameGenevieve Swart