Liberals promise $7 million for Murray Bridge hospital’s maternity ward
Leader Ashton Hurn and MP Adrian Pederick have delivered a big promise for Hammond ahead of this year’s state election.
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Murray Bridge’s hospital will get an upgraded maternity ward if the Liberal Party forms government in South Australia this year, leader Ashton Hurn has promised.
A Liberal government would spend $7 million improving the facilities for new mums and their babies at Murray Bridge Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.
Upgrades would include:
- private bathrooms for both birthing suites
- four post-natal rooms with ensuite bathrooms
- a new women’s assessment space
- a dedicated neonatal resuscitation space
At present, the hospital’s two birthing suites share a bathroom, and new mums must recover in general hospital rooms and share bathrooms with other patients.
In one case, in 2024, a new mum had to share a bathroom with an inmate from Mobilong Prison; in another case, a woman in labour had to walk all the way down a corridor to use a staff toilet.
The community deserved better, Ms Hurn suggested.
“Having a baby is a big moment for any family, and understandably, most parents want to be as close to home as possible, surrounded by the people they love,” she said.
“This upgrade (would mean) local mums can give birth in Murray Bridge, in a modern and comfortable space, without having to travel far from family and support.”
A maternity ward upgrade was long overdue, local Liberal MP Adrian Pederick said.
It would be a great boost not only for locals, but for families right across the Murraylands and Mallee for whom Murray Bridge had the closest birthing facilities.
Between 250 and 300 babies were currently born in Murray Bridge each year, local doctor Izzy Gebler-Hughes said.
But she estimated that another 100 local mums opted to give birth in Mount Barker or Adelaide each year because the facilities were nicer.
“This announcement is so, so exciting,” she said.
“With newer facilities, we (would) be able to have more women stay locally and give birth on country … and it (would) also be much safer for women.
“Because there’s no dedicated maternity space (at present), you may have to share with someone with an infectious disease, an inmate or someone with dementia, which is really not appropriate ... with a newborn baby.”
Murray Bridge’s top-notch midwifery service usually pairs up expectant mums with an individual midwife throughout pregnancy, delivery and recovery.
Midwife Stuart Whittet hoped an upgrade would encourage more local mums to give birth in Murray Bridge, ensuring continuity of care all the way through the experience.
New mum Emily Mueller, whose daughter Natalie recently became the fourth generation of babies in the family to be born in Murray Bridge, welcomed the Liberal announcement.
“An upgrade would be amazing,” she said.
“There’s such a great team here, and (it would be great) to have updated facilities to match that.”
Local health authorities have been calling for a maternity ward upgrade almost since it was last updated in 2004.
An upgrade was identified as a need in a clinical services plan by the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network last year.
Both Mr Pederick and independent candidate Airlie Keen had been lobbying for it, too, he in parliament and she by launching a petition signed by more than 700 locals.
At this stage, the promised funding will only be delivered if the Liberal Party wins government in South Australia after the election in March.
Murray Bridge News will seek comment from Ms Keen and Labor candidate Simone Bailey.
