Midwife crisis
Burnouts, shortages and pay problems — midwives appeal to government for help. Te Ahua Maitland reports.
Kiwi midwives say they are in crisis and are pleading for action from Health Minister David Clark.
The Government needs to step in to stop midwives from burning out and leaving the profession, they say.
‘‘I am a new graduate midwife who has worked a full month without time off, looking after 36 women,’’ one person wrote.
‘‘Due to poor payment structuring, I have not received a single payment during this time.’’
Another wrote: ‘‘While working as an LMC with a small caseload, I had a miscarriage while looking after a woman in labour. My wonderful back-ups had already covered me for three days and I couldn’t afford to keep paying them to cover my caseload.
‘‘This is the reality of our pay structure, with no holiday pay or sickness leave.’’
Another added: ‘‘This week I was called out in the night three times, and none of these times for a labour.
‘‘I travelled a two-hour round trip each time. I get no extra pay for these assessments. I worked 72 hours and earned $7.80 hr.’’
The stories were posted on a Facebook page started by members of the profession to get the Government’s attention.
‘‘The midwife crisis is real, but we don’t want women to be afraid,’’ chairwoman of the Waikato branch of the New Zealand College of Midwives, Karen Barnes said.
In the Waikato, 30 to 40 midwives have left in the last six months.
‘‘Women will get care, it’s just not the best that we know it could be due to under-resourcing.’’
Barnes has 30 years of experience in the profession and said finding a midwife who isn’t already booked is becoming more and more difficult. Many pregnant women are being referred to Waikato Hospital.
This issue has added extra strain on the hospital, which was already having difficulty finding and retaining midwives.
‘‘Because of all this burnout and difficulty in the community, it puts more and more pressure on the service that should be concentrating on women with greater needs. They’re having to stretch themselves further.
‘‘The backstop is the DHB. They will get the care, but not the ‘great model’ that New Zealand is known for, due to underresourcing.’’
In a statement, Health Minister David Clark declined to comment on the page.
He went on to say that workforce issues and shortages ‘‘do not develop overnight.
‘‘I’ve asked the Ministry of Health to look at what can be done to address this in both the short and longer term.
‘‘It is an indictment on the previous Government that we are in this position.
‘‘ If National had bothered to do proper workforce planning, then we might have avoided the sort of pressures we [are] now seeing.’’
Midwives are underpaid and overworked.
They are now leaving, either the profession altogether or to go to Australia for better money and working conditions.
The profession is fighting for a new funding model. Announcements will be made when the Budget is delivered on May 17.
Rural community midwife Sheryl Wright said the pay hasn’t kept up with the inflation, but said women’s needs and expectations have increased.
Wright, with 15 years of experience, takes on around three women a month and is based in Huntly. She is already booking up fast for the months of September and October.
‘‘It’s heartbreaking turning women down when they’re stressed and crying on the phone,’’ Wright said.
‘‘Some midwives have said if this doesn’t change, they will be leaving at the end of this year, they are just holding on.
‘‘So that’s women who are getting pregnant in the next eight weeks.’’
Barnes said midwives love their job – but something has to change.
‘‘There’s so much joy in what we do. None of us would still be in this job if there wasn’t this joy we get.
‘‘Other countries look at us and envy our systems – but that’s when we are properly resourced. The model works really, really well for the women. But we are worried for our colleagues and we are so worried for women and babies because we are so underresourced.’’
Wintec’s acting head of midwifery Jackie Gunn said course enrolments have been relatively stable over the past three years, with a small decrease this year.
Wintec works in partnership with Waikato midwives, birthing centres and the Waikato District Health Board and other DHBs across the Midland region.
Gunn said it was important to encourage people into the profession.
‘‘The publicity around the current midwifery shortage may be an appropriate way to raising awareness of the vital role midwives have in our communities.’’
Each year, approximately 60 to 70 students enrol in the Bachelor of Midwifery programme at Wintec – 59 in 2017, 70 in 2016, 66 in 2015 and 68 in 2014. At this time of the year, enrolments are still proceeding but they currently stand at 42 – this figure is likely to change.