No collusion

The NZ College of Midwives did not collude with the Ministry of Health to distort the results of research comparing outcomes between doctor and midwifery-led care which showed

that midwives had less favourable outcomes.

On the contrary, the figures were distorted themselves.

Every pregnant woman has to enrol with a midwife or other suitably qualified provider, who is then designated as the Lead Maternity Care (LMC) and is responsible for the woman’s care up until six weeks after the birth.

The distortion occurs when the woman has to be referred for obstetrician care because of complications.

Once a referral is made, the LMC has no input into her client’s care. However, the outcome whether good or bad is sheeted home to the LMC’s record.

Using this method to measure outcomes it can only get worse for LMCs as they and the client have to sprint into the base hospital after Lumsden Maternity closes.

The Associate Minister of Health in charge of maternity, Julie Anne Genter has recently given birth so it shouldn’t be too great a stretch for her to put herself in the shoes of the pregnant women of Northern Southland and Fiordland who definitely need some reassurance.

If she wants best care for mothers and babies, she can contribute by getting involved down here.

A C Clarke