Margaret Gardener, Dunedin

Address: 19 Flagstaff Road, R.D.1, Dunedin
Phone: 03 476 4663 Email: margaret.g@xtra.co.nz

I am a solo mother with a son, born in 1990.

I find that caring for four women a month creates full time work and still allows some family time. Although happy to provide shared care, I prefer midwifery-only care and work happily in home and hospitals. I usually have two months holiday a year in January and July. I do mainly home visits and prefer to assess a woman at home in early labour.

Formal Qualifications: NZ Comprehesive Nurse 1979, Registered Midwife 1980, Certificate in neonatal intensive care, Advanced Diploma in Midwifery 1990, Certificate of Proficiency in Obstetrics and Gynaecology & Family Planning 1996. I make the most of the inservice opportunities in my own area.

Experience: I have been working as an independent midwife since 1991. Apart from working in big London hospitals during my OE, I have mainly worked in either small country hospitals or in geographically isolated areas in Canada. That involved learning a lot and using both nursing and midwifery skills and knowledge.

Philosophy: I believe that birth is a normal life event and that in most cases women will have a normal birth if left to do things in their own time. I will not suggest analgesia but wait for women to ask and will make suggestions of alternatives before administering analgesia.

If women have problems during their pregnancy I feel they need the stability of a midwife providing continuity of care. So if complications arise with women I have booked, I will continue to provide midwifery care.

I think women need as much care after the birth as they had during their pregnancy. I therefore provide care to six weeks after the birth. The usual frequency of these visits are daily for the first week, twice in the second week and weekly to six weeks. These can be negotiated and there are times when I have continued past six weeks and visited more frequently until a problem has resolved .

I undergo an annual NZCOM Midwifery Standards Review process.

Links referenced

margaret.g@xtra.co.nz: mailto:margaret.g@xtra.co.nz

Location http://www.midwife.org.nz/index.cfm/1,161,392,0,html