Kia ora koutou members,

The College wants to acknowledge Auckland members and their whanau and communities, some of whom are suffering the double burden of ongoing Level 4 restrictions and the impact of a recent major weather event.

There are a few items to update you on today.

1. Covid vaccination for midwives: Draft position statement
   A draft position statement is now available for member consultation via your membership portal. We acknowledge the correspondence that some members have sent on this subject. The purpose of the statement is to provide the position of the profession, including an ethical perspective, for midwives to consider in their decision making. As the professional association, it is not the College’s decision about whether vaccination should be mandatory.
2. Updated guidance on referral for women who are Covid-19 positive. The College and RANZCOG have updated our collaborative advice on obstetric referral for women who are Covid 19 positive during pregnancy. The updated advice can be found here
3. The Ministry of Health’s Covid information line for health professionals has been updated, details included in your member email.
   PUBLIC can access COVID-19 information and advice through the separate COVID-19 Healthline (0800) 358 5453, available 24 hours a day, every day.
4. Alert Level differences: Although the country is in differing Alert levels now, the College’s advice documents cover Alert Levels 3 & 4. Please review the advice as needed and feel free to contact the College if there are any points of clarification needed.
5. Covid pregnancy register. The College would like to remind members that there is a Covid in pregnancy register www.liggins.auckland.ac.nz/covid19 which has been set up to provide valuable information about Covid-19 in pregnancy in our New Zealand context. The  Registry aims to determine the incidence, the natural history of and outcomes from COVID‐19 infection in pregnancy. All members who are caring for women with Covid-19 are encouraged to notify cases through the registry.
6. Auckland border restrictions under Alert Level 4. The College is seeking clarification as to the appropriate documentation for whānau members who are supporting their clients with childcare, labour support etc to enable them to cross the Alert Level boundary. We will provide an update when we have this confirmed.
7. Updated Ministry of Health guidance for well child advice under Alert Levels 3 & 4. These updated documents are available here.

Ngā mihi

Alison Eddy

Chief Executive