With new public health measures now in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread, the College acknowledges the impact this is having and will have on midwives, their families and clients.

Please continue to check the Ministry of Health website for current information on COVID-19

• The College is working on detailed advice for midwives, midwifery care and advice for women and whānau relating to COVID-19. We will be updating information regularly on our website and Facebook page, as well as sending directly to all members as soon as this detailed advice is completed.
• Any midwife returning from overseas (except from Pacific Island countries[1]) from 1am 16 March 2020 is required to self-isolate for 14 days. This means that she cannot provide any clinical care for women.
• Midwives who are required to self-isolate can access urban emergency locum support which is funded by the Ministry of Health and administered by the MMPO for all LMC midwives. Currently there is insufficient funding in either the rural or emergency urban locum contracts to enable 14 days cover. At this stage we have funding for 5 days of emergency locum support and we are strongly advocating for an extension of this with the Ministry of Health.
• It is recommended that midwives do not travel overseas unless absolutely necessary while the current restrictions are in place. These restrictions are in response to the community spread of COVID-19 in most other countries and the requirement to self-isolate for 14 days on return to New Zealand.

[1] Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna.