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About Us

The New Zealand College of Midwives (NZCOM) is the professional organisation and recognised ‘voice’ for midwives and student midwives in New Zealand. The NZCOM represents over 2800 members and works in partnership with maternity consumer groups such as Plunket, Parents Centre New Zealand, the Home Birth Association, La Leche League and individual women to ensure high quality maternity services in New Zealand. 

The NZCOM sets and actively promotes high standards for midwifery practice and assists midwives to meet these standards through involvement in midwifery education and the Midwifery Standards Review Process. 

The NZCOM was formed in 1989 to represent the interests of midwives and childbearing women (consumers). Founded on the principle of midwifery as a partnership between midwives and women, the organisational structure of the NZCOM reflects and supports this partnership by ensuring a place for women as well as midwives at every level of the NZCOM and in every NZCOM process.

Through working in partnership with women the NZCOM aims to ensure that midwives remain professionally autonomous and that women have the opportunity to be in control of their childbearing experiences. The NZCOM has a national office (based in Christchurch) and a regional structure of ten committees and five sub committees in smaller provincial centres.

The political partnership between women and midwives through the eighties culminated in the Nurses Amendment Act that was passed in 1990.

This Act enabled midwives to practise on their own responsibility, order laboratory tests, prescribe medications and access hospital facilities and services. It provided for equal pay for work of equal value. Its effect was to give equivalent status with medical practitioners in the provision of services for pregnancy and childbirth.  The NZCOM represents midwives in negotiations with the Ministry of Health regarding the Section 88 notice for Maternity Benefit Schedule and provides professional indemnity insurance for its members.

Midwives are now regulated by the Health Practitioners Competency Assurance (HPCA) Act 2003. See the Regulation Of Midwives for more information about the regulation of midwifery in New Zealand.

The NZCOM has developed the Philosophy, Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice and Consensus Statements that guide the professional activities of midwifery practitioners. These are developed in consultation with the membership of the NZCOM. The NZCOM also provides Resolution Committees for consumers who have a complaint about their midwife's practice.

The NZCOM represents midwifery and women’s health interests to government, health organisations, consumer groups and the general public. The NZCOM also represents New Zealand on the International Confederation of Midwives and is currently the representative for the midwife association members in the Asia Pacific Region.