Midwifery and Maternity Services in New Zealand

New Zealand women and their families/whanau have access to personal, practical and professional care from midwives from early pregnancy right through until four to six weeks after the baby’s birth. This care is free and is available to all women throughout New Zealand. Pregnant women are required to choose a Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) who coordinates their maternity care. Most women and their families (over 75%) choose a midwife as their LMC. These LMC midwives work with their midwife partners and the midwives who are employed to work in maternity units.

New Zealand midwives work in a partnership model of care with women. In this model each woman and her midwife are partners, working together to ensure that the woman has care that best meets her individual needs. The woman and the midwife get to know each other well over the whole maternity experience, building a relationship of trust with each other, sharing information and decision-making and recognising the active role that both play in the woman’s maternity care.

“Midwives provide safe, women-focused services that families can trust”

Women and their families are finding out that they can benefit from the care of a midwife. They are learning that pregnancy and childbirth are normal, healthy processes, not illnesses. We know that midwifery care results in less chance of complications, fewer interventions, and healthier births for themselves and their babies.

The building of relationships between midwives and women during pregnancy contributes to many women’s sense of security in labour. Women are discovering that the safest places to give birth are at home or in a birthing centre. Only a few women actually need to give birth in hospital because of complications. Women are most likely to labour best in a place where they feel free, safe and private, with midwives whom they know and trust. For most women this will be at home or in a birthing centre where they can be in control of who is there and what happens, and where they can feel free to make noise and move around to cope with the pain. Pain is a normal part of labour and with the help of their midwives women learn how they can cope with this pain with support from their partner, their support people and their midwives.

Midwives are specialists in pregnancy and childbirth. They complete a three-year degree known as the ‘Bachelor of Midwifery’ in order to gain the knowledge, skills and experience they have to provide safe and professional midwifery care. Midwives practice in different settings. They work in the community and provide birth care at home, in birthing units and in hospitals. Women who birth in hospitals will also have care from the hospital-employed midwives who provide the 24-hour in-hospital midwifery care in partnership with women and/or their LMC midwives. Women, who have or develop medical or obstetric conditions that require the ongoing involvement of an obstetrician, still require a midwife. A hospital-employed midwife or an LMC midwife can provide this midwifery care.

Midwives care is founded on respect for normal pregnancy and birth as healthy processes and profound events in a woman’s life and that of her family.

Pregnant? You will need a midwife

Pregnancy and childbirth involve every part of you. Feelings, hopes, fears, physical and practical needs and spiritual or religious beliefs can all affect your pregnancy and birth. Midwives address all these aspects to help you give birth naturally, safely and confidently. The partnership relationship of the midwife and the woman is the foundation for women-centered midwifery care. Women who experience this type of midwifery care report feelings of great satisfaction and empowerment.

Choosing the right midwife for you is very important. Think about the questions you can ask to find out if the midwife will meet your needs. You can find out about midwives in your area on our find a midwife page.

For more information on maternity services in New Zealand and services available to you, ring 0800 MUM 2 BE (0800 686 223)