Today, on International Day of the Midwife (May 5), midwives share what it’s like working through a pandemic. As you read this new lives will be delivered into the world. Not just new babies, but new parents too. For those women birthing, this might be the most powerful and strong, scared and overwhelmed, vulnerable and … Read more
The Māori midwives on the frontline of whānau care and Oranga Tamariki scrutiny say their voices are going unheard and their wisdom unheeded. *All names have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved Newsroom’s powerful investigation into Oranga Tamariki’s attempt to ‘uplift’ a newborn baby at a Hawke’s Bay maternity ward has alarmed … Read more
A study using salary data, employment prospects, skill shortages and training positions suggests aspiring engineers, builders, teachers, midwives and panel beaters are off to a great start. First published in February 2019. One of the most difficult choices in a young person’s life is deciding what they want to study. They have to think about … Read more
Calls for adequate funding for New Zealand’s midwives have led to discussions about how best to support pregnant people and their whānau through birth and beyond. Hinerangi Rhind-Wiri from Māori public health organisation Hāpai Te Hauora asks if we are considering the distinct and important needs of Māori midwives and whānau alike. Midwives’ call to action for pay … Read more
Midwives around New Zealand marched today, protesting pay rates and working conditions across the industry. Don Rowe joined the march up Auckland’s main street. New Zealand midwives and their supporters marched in cities around the country today, calling for urgent adjustments to what they say is an outrageously low pay scale, which can in some … Read more
Twenty thousand women experience a miscarriage every year in New Zealand, a country failing to provide adequate medical and emotional care, writes Kathryn Van Beek. Pregnancy loss and infertility counsellor Megan Downer is gearing up for Mother’s Day. The days before and after Sunday 13 May will be some of the busiest of her year. … Read more
In the third piece in our series on the midwifery crisis in New Zealand, Kimberley Davis writes about how – and how much – midwives are paid. We are often told that we’re lucky to have the midwifery-led maternity-care system we do here in Aotearoa, and indeed we are. It’s unique and it’s the envy … Read more
As part of our series on the midwifery crisis, The Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes asked midwives to share what’s gone wrong, and how they believe the crisis can be solved. It’s coming up to a year since I interviewed dozens of midwives about their experiences working in one of the toughest, most under-paid and … Read more
In the first in our series on the midwifery crisis in New Zealand, Kimberley Davis writes about what it is a midwife does, and why midwives need higher wages and safer working conditions. You might have noticed there’s been a bit of a public fuss lately over the working and pay conditions of Aotearoa’s midwives. … Read more
Lumsden Maternity Centre in rural Southland, where Bill English was born, is in imminent danger of closure. Southerner Victoria Crockford explains why it would be a devastating loss for the community. I must admit, I really questioned myself the day that the pigs broke into a multi-million dollar building site down the road. Pinky and … Read more
Angela Cuming gave birth to twins in Northern Ireland, under the British National Health Service. She reflects on the difference of care she received there compared to her oldest child’s birth in New Zealand. When my identical twin boys were born via c-section the doctors had me walk, crying and in pain, into the operating … Read more
On Monday we published a piece in which midwives spoke out. They talked about how exhausted they are, how they’re underpaid and overworked and underappreciated. Today we share the responses we received from politicians, and from NZ’s main midwives organisation. Following Monday’s story, we heard again and again from readers who were shocked by the … Read more