Male midwife in training one of the minority

If Glen Valentine had a dollar for every time someone asked him what a male midwife should be called, he'd probably be rich.

 

Instead, the Rotorua-based student is going for a scholarship to help fund his degree.

 

Valentine's used to the questions that come with being a man in the midwifery business.

 

"The first reaction is 'Is it still called midwife?'"

 

The answer is yes - in old English, mid means with and the wife part refers to the woman giving birth.

 

But men are definitely in the minority - they made up just six out of 2971 midwives in the most recent survey of the Kiwi midwifery workforce.

Valentine started studying with Wintec in 2013, inspired by a midwife's care around the birth of his second daughter.

 

Balancing shared care of his two girls with study, travel to Hamilton and placements hasn't been easy money-wise, and that's why he's going for an AMP People's Choice scholarship.

 

But his view on midwifery hasn't changed.

 

"With each birth, they're all different. Every time I go into a birth it's like the spark is being reignited, it's making me realise more and more why I want to do it," he said.

 

"It's quite an intimate moment for families but to be a part of that is really, really cool."

 

Having attended births as the dad, Valentine said he could bring partners into the experience.

 

"I can talk to them about what's going on and give them some direction. A lot of the time the males are like the stunned possum in the headlights and don't know what to do."

 

Valentine failed a paper at the end of second year and took a break from study.

 

But he has since re-sat and passed, so hopes a scholarship will help with petrol and food costs when he does a final-year placement in Hamilton.

 

Working there means he's in a tertiary care environment, whereas at Rotorua it is secondary level, he said.

 

Other men considering midwifery should forget the stereotypes and have a go, he said.

 

They would have to be "100 per cent committed" but the benefits outweighed the challenges.

 

Wintec midwifery tutor Fiona Hermann said male midwives were rare in New Zealand, although men dominated in obstetrics and gynaecology.

 

"[Midwifery] certainly is a female-dominated profession and probably a lot of men do have the characteristics to be a midwife," she said.

 

They included intelligence, being able to think clearly and quickly, and the ability to create a rapport.

 

Male midwives who had practiced in Rotorua and South Auckland had busy caseloads and good feedback from the families they looked after, Hermann said.

 

Valentine's application for the AMP People's Choice scholarship, is chosen by public vote through Facebook.

 

From the 2014 workforce survey

* 2971 midwives with a current practising certificate

* Six males

* Average age: 47

* Average time as a midwife: 15 years

* Mostly NZ/ other European (89%). 165 give NZ Maori as their first ethnicity.

* Average caseload 41 women a year but some had 61 women or more