Kia Ora Koutou,

Thank you for signing our petition! However the fight is not over yet.

We have strength in numbers, so we at Rata Midwives are asking you send in a submission to the board. This is so your concerns can be directly voiced to those making a decision around the funding of St. George's going forward.

Here are the public email addresses you can forward your concerns to:

Blair.roxborough@stgeorges.org.nz

Anna.craw@cdhb.health.nz

Bishopsea@anglicanlife.org.nz

We have drafted a letter below, which you are welcome to send in:

Dear Mr Roxborough, The Right Reverend Dr Peter Carrell and members of the board.
It is imperative that you do not close the Birthing Unit at St Georges Hospital.
This is an essential service for the people of Christchurch, one which is valued immensely as the public feedback proves.
If this unit closes, all other maternity services for families and babies will be placed under a huge amount of pressure. This must be part of your decision making as a Charitable Trust with a professed mission of working in a “culture of caring”. St George’s maternity service has served
the community for decades, and to withdraw this during a pandemic is very difficult to explain or justify; many would say it is irresponsible.
The Values statement on the St George’s website says “Caring for our community: honouring our charitable status”.
Your community is speaking and asking you to honour us by keeping the Birthing Unit and maternity services open.
We and the thousands who have signed the petition look forward to hearing the good news that any proposal to close or further reduce the St George’s primary maternity service has been scrapped, and families and babies can continue to rely on the Society of St George’s Hospital.
Thank you