Midwife shortage as another one goes

Fiona Kington is one of four remaining self-employed midwives on the Coromandel, but she’s decided to leave at the end of year.

Numbers of midwives, also known as Lead Maternity Carers (LMCs), have dropped from 11 to four in the region over the last three years.

It’s a scary thought for those pregnant living on the Coromandel, from right up north at Fletcher’s Bay down to Whitianga and Thames.

Kington,who has been a rural Coromandel midwife for eight years admits it was a tough decision.

‘‘Year upon year it was just getting less worth it. The last straw was I realised that life is too short and it’s not okay to carry on giving so much.

‘‘It is hard to make that decision. The reason I stayed doing it is because I love the people up here. They are resilient, nondemanding and really appreciative.’’

Kington is one of the more remote midwives on the Coromandel, living at Kuaotunu, between Whitianga and the Coromandel Township.

‘‘I have serviced the northern Coromandel area from the Coromandel Township, Colville, right up the coast to the top and all the little beaches in between, Matarangi, Whangapoua and Whitianga.’’

The travel is one of the hardest things for Kington. She ticks up 40,000 to 50,000 kilometres annually. Some check-up visits are twoand-a-half hours away, a five-hour round trip.

‘‘They are often rough, metal roads or the roads are windy so you need to concentrate extra hard. Often roads are closed and you have to take alternate longer routes.

‘‘Emergencies require ambulance trips to Thames Hospital or Waikato Hospital – and often you’ll get there but not have a ride back home.’’

Two years ago she began working with another midwife, but before that she was working on her own. The other midwives are based in Thames.

‘‘I had very little support and very little time off. This is not a new problem, the DHB (Waikato) were aware of me being up here by myself.

‘‘There is a system in place to retain remote rural midwives through the Ministry of Health, which Jocelyn, the other midwife, helped fill that gap. She has been incredible and an asset to the community but unfortunately it hasn’t been enough to retain me at the end of the day.’’

Kington said she is already booked up until the end of October and has been turning pregnant women away.

‘‘Because there is only two of us in the top area, we do tend to stretch ourselves and take whoever comes our way so that they do have a midwife.

‘‘It’s sad to think from now on I will have to turn people away who will be due end of year.’’

She is hopeful the May 17 budget will be kind to midwives, but that will still not change her mind.

New Zealand is dealing with a midwife shortage, with many leaving the profession due to poor working conditions and poor pay structure.

In the Waikato, 30 to 40 midwives have left in the last six months with fewer than 100 still practising in the region.

Health Minister David Clark said he is working on an urgent response to midwives’ pay and working conditions ahead of this year’s budget.

Midwives have been pushing for the better working conditions and pay for a long time.

In August 2015, the College of Midwives lodged the nation’s biggest equal pay challenge, alleging the ministry’s pay levels breached gender rules under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.

The NZCOM withdrew its court action after the Government promised a 6 per cent pay increase and a place at the table for community midwives to design a funding model.