The Prime Minister says a social media post stating all mothers would be entitled to three-night postnatal hospital stays from now on was incorrect.
By Lillian Hanly for RNZ
The post said from now, mothers would be entitled to the stay, however the Budget announcement said the three-night stay would be phased in and not fully implemented for another three years.
Christopher Luxon told Morning Report a "mistake happened, we've corrected it".
He acknowledged the announcement had been "incorrectly characterised and has been corrected".
Last Friday, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister Casey Costello made the announcement increasing support for mothers and babies.
Budget 2026 provided $34.4 million over four years to increase maternity bed capacity and grow the workforce required to enable three day hospital stays for mothers.
"We know this change must be properly supported to ensure maternity services can safely deliver longer stays," Brown said at the time.
"That is why this funding is focused on expanding maternity capacity and infrastructure, while supporting the workforce needed to deliver longer stays safely and sustainably."
The funding supported implementation of the Three Day Postnatal Stay Amendment Bill, currently going through Parliament.
The government explained at the time of the announcement it intended to phase the Bill's implementation to ensure the system was ready to deliver the entitlement safely.
It explained Health New Zealand would begin by using existing capacity with the funding rolled out through a stated implementation over three years, allowing time to grow workforce and bed capacity.
First time mothers would be prioritised in the first two years, with full access for all women by the end of year three.
A video posted on National Party social media pages - now corrected - has the edited caption: "We're increasing maternity bed capacity and growing the health workforce so mothers can stay in hospital or a primary maternity unit for up to three days after giving birth, if they want to."
The video posted shows a number of female National MPs describing their birth experiences, followed by the health minister saying: "That's why this Budget is extending post natal stays to three days for all Kiwi mums.
"Fixing the basics, building the future and backing families from day one."
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