The Axe is Sharpening for Private Maternity in NSW

In March 2025, Gosford Private Hospital will close its maternity services, only a few years after launching state-of-the-art facilities.

Hospital owner, HealtheCare, claim that the 450-500 births annually are not enough to financially maintain the service for the women of the Central Coast.

With over 450 births annually, the viability of maternity services raises questions about adequate funding from Health Funds to support essential services.

While patients should remain under the care of their private obstetrician, this closure means an additional 20% of births will shift to public facilities, exacerbating the existing strain on Gosford Public Hospital, which has already suspended elective gynaecological surgeries due to demand.

Expectant mothers who have paid private health insurance premiums for years now face an unsettling reality: potential lack of the continuity of care and personalised birthing experience they were promised.

Another private maternity closure in NSW that seems to have had less media coverage but is equally disastrous for expectant families, is South West Sydney Private Hospital in Liverpool. Due to close their maternity services on 6 December this year, the Healthscope facility has provided few details about the reasons behind their decision.

A common explanation for the closure of any private maternity unit is that there is a lack of demand for their services. Yet a review of the use of MBS item number 16401[1] in NSW shows that in 2024, the number of patients seeking an initial consultation with a private obstetrician was slightly higher than in 2014 (see chart below).

MBS data obtained from medicarestatistics.human.services.gov.au on 24 October 2024

This clearly does not indicate a drop in demand.

While initial consultations have slightly increased since 2014, ongoing care (item 16404) continues to decline, signalling possible gaps in funding that prevent private maternity units from staying viable.

We can be fairly confident that those funding gaps are based in the lack of recognition amongst government bodies of the demand for the private maternity sector services.

In terms of growth in the Greater Sydney region, NSW Government Development Plans show the South West and Gosford areas at 3rd and 4th respectively to see significant population increases over the next 20 years.

Yet the young families moving to these areas will have limited options for their maternity care. Unless they wish to travel a distance from their homes, their choices for care will be limited. This is a scenario common in regional and rural Australia, not in one of our largest cities!

The closure of the maternity units at Gosford and South West Sydney is part of a continuing removal of choice of maternity care from Australian women.

To address this ongoing crisis, the Federal Government must urgently reassess funding models to ensure private maternity care remains a viable and accessible option for all families.

NASOG remains committed to advocating for women’s rights to choose their preferred maternity care. Join the conversation at our upcoming forums and help us safeguard this vital choice for Australian families.

If you are not currently a NASOG member, join today and help save private maternity and real choice for Australian women.

[1] MBS Item Number 16401: Professional attendance at consulting rooms or a hospital by a specialist in the practice of the specialist’s specialty of obstetrics after referral of the patient to the specialist—initial attendance in a single course of treatment

[2] MBS Item Number 16404: Professional attendance at consulting rooms or a hospital by a specialist in the practice of the specialist’s specialty of obstetrics after referral of the patient to the specialist—an attendance after the initial attendance in a single course of treatment