For the past two years, mothers who delivered their babies at Newcastle Private Hospital could recuperate with their families at the harbourfront hotel with round-the-clock access to an on-site midwife.

But now the popular Postnatal Plus program has been shelved, disappointing many expectant parents.

Tomara Brown, of Lorn, is 33 weeks pregnant. She had deliberately chosen her private health insurance policy on the basis it gave her the option to be transferred to the hotel for her postnatal care. Some funds, such as nib, did not cover it, she said.

“I have a four year old, and she would have been able to stay there with all of us as well,” Ms Brown said. 

“It would have been nice to have a few days with our family all together, while still having the support of a midwife.”

Fairfax Media understands “economic forces” had brought the postnatal program to an end, and that some private health funds had been “unsupportive” of the initiative.

But Newcastle Private Hospital issued a statement that only confirmed the Maternity by The Sea program had been suspended for the “immediate future.”

A spokesperson said the suspension of the program would not affect the “safe, high quality maternity services the hospital provided to the women of the Hunter.”

But Ms Brown was concerned the 38-bed maternity ward at the hospital would reach capacity more easily now there were no other private maternity options available in the region. She had already had one procedure at the hospital postponed earlier in her pregnancy due to no beds being available.

“What is going to happen if there is a big rush of babies born at the same time?” Ms Brown said.

“Maitland Private Hospital no longer takes on postnatal patients either. So basically, in the Hunter Region, the only private hospital offering maternity or postnatal care is Newcastle Private. Potentially at busy times mothers may have to leave before they are ready purely because of the lack of options to transfer to other hospitals.”

Rebecca King, of Charlestown, had also been looking forward to using the postnatal service. It had appealed because most of her family do not live locally, and her eldest child could stay with them. The hotel also offered a more comfortable option for her partner, who had slept on a thin mattress on the hospital room floor when their first child was born.

The program had included parenting education and breastfeeding support.

Crowne Plaza Newcastle general manager Matt Anderson said they had received a lot of positive feedback from families who participated in the popular postnatal program.

“Our team also enjoyed having our baby VIP's in-house and taking special care of mum, bub and their families,” he said.

They had been told the program had been suspended for the remainder of 2016.

“We are very keen to work with Newcastle Private should the program be reinstated in 2017,” he said.