Welcome to the Thames Birthing Unit, a primary birthing facility for natural, low-risk births under midwifery care.
Our facilities
- Three bedrooms (with own ensuite) for postnatal stay
- Two birthing rooms (with ensuite)
- Birthing pool
- Breastfeeding room
- Patient lounge
- Outdoor areas
- Two clinic rooms and one education room that can be booked for related service activities such as classes and clinics
(How to book the clinic and education rooms)
- Te Punanga Kūaka
Thames Hospital’s whānau accommodation facility is available for use by women and a support person who travel to Thames from outlying rural locations when they are in early, unestablished labour.
Your midwife or hospital maternity staff can arrange this.
View photographs of our facilities
Our services
We provide
- free pregnancy tests
- helpful advice on the maternity system and how to find a midwife in your area
- care to women during pregnancy, labour, birth and up to six weeks after the birth.
We do not offer medical interventions like epidurals or caesarean sections.
What if there are complications?
If there are any complications your midwife will work within referral
guidelines and transfer you to secondary care at Waikato Hospital in
Hamilton.
If you do birth at Waikato Hospital, you can return to Thames Birthing Unit for post-natal (after the birthing) care.
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Meet our team of midwives
Check out our team of wonderful midwives that can support you for a birth at home or at the Thames Birthing Unit. You can choose the midwife you feel will most suit you. We recommend you talk with them about your situation and what support you want during your pregnancy and birthing.
Commonly asked questions
Read the commonly asked questions.
How the Thames Birthing Unit was born
The idea of a Thames Birthing Unit was first mooted back in 2005 but changes to the proposed location (for a number of reasons) meant delays. In 2008 a proposal for a standalone facility on this site, in Mary Street, was approved by the Waikato District Health Board and budgeted for. As with any major project, there were a few more delays and changing dates for the opening but everyone rose to the challenge and found a way to make this happen.
The Thames Birthing Unit was formally opened on Monday 5 September 2011 and the first baby born there on Friday 9 September 2011.
Among those who should be acknowledged are:
- the local mothers who provided information, via a survey, on what was needed
- the Thames Hospital midwives and local LMCs
- the DHB project team – Ros Morell, the late Brendan Hague and their team members
- the management team at Waikato and Thames hospitals
- the Thames Coromandel District Council
- and the builders Jennian Homes Coromandel, in particular Stephen and Haley Trebilco and Ryan Tohaia.
Check our News and Events page for stories about the opening of the unit, the first baby born there, and other items of interest.
How to find us
We are located at 412 Mary Street, Thames.
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