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Lucia Cincich wouldn’t normally describe herself as an anxious mum.
The Point Cook resident is the mother of two-year-old Casey and three-month-old Christian.
When Wyndham council began restricting access to their maternal and child health (MCH) services, Ms Cincich didn’t know where to go for help.
“I saw the nurse from Wyndham a couple of times and then they just told me that I couldn’t have any other appointments,” she said.
“My boy is now three-and-a-half-months old and he hasn’t been checked since he was two months.”
The MCH service is designed to give parents support, advice and information, and monitor growth, health, development and behaviour in infants and young children.
A Wyndham council spokesperson said the resource has been under “considerable pressure”.
“A shortage of maternal child health nurses in Victoria together with COVID-19-related absences has impacted service delivery. In Wyndham priority service has been given to the youngest and most vulnerable,” the spokesperson said.
Ms Cincich said she was “extremely disappointed” she was no longer able to access the support.
“I don’t know if my child is OK, he seems happy, he seems growing pretty well, but I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nurse, how do I know?,” she said.
“What if something is wrong with him and because he hasn’t been checked, it gets worse.
“I’m a very relaxed mum, but I feel like I’m becoming a little bit more anxious because there’s no support.”
Ms Cincich was encouraged to contact a GP if she suspected something was amiss with her child but said she is reluctant.
“The MCH is the service that is designed for children, GPs sometimes don’t have enough knowledge about young children, but the MCH does,” she said.
The Wyndham council spokesperson said council is doing “all we can” to ease the strain on Wyndham’s health services.
“Wyndham has a number of workforce development strategies underway to attract and retain maternal child health nurses including a graduate program, student pilot program, scholarship program and provision of portfolios for nurses,” the spokesperson said.
