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Useful experience for midwives includes:

• teaching
• counselling
• nursing
• other health-related work.

Midwives may do some or all of the following:

• support women through the normal physiological processes of pregnancy and childbirth
• support women to maintain good physical, emotional and mental wellbeing throughout pregnancy 
• discuss and organise ultrasound, blood and other screening tests during pregnancy
• refer to other health practitioners during the pregnancy, labour, birth and post-birth period
• care for women during labour, birth and the post-birth period, including prescribing medications
• examine the newborn baby
• provide information and support for parents on how to care for and feed their newborn baby.

Strong demand for midwives

Demand for midwives is currently high due to:

• midwives retiring and the establishment of new roles
• unpredictable demand for services as it's not possible to accurately predict when women will give birth
• a shortage of workers in Auckland, Tauranga, Canterbury and parts of Waikato.

Midwife appears on Immigration New Zealand's regional skill shortage list. This means the Government is actively encouraging skilled midwives from overseas to work in New Zealand.

According to the Census, 2,742 midwives worked in New Zealand in 2018.

Extra payment for graduates working in hard-to-staff locations

Te Whatu Ora runs a voluntary bonding scheme aimed at recruiting more graduate midwives to work in New Zealand communities that are hard to staff. 

Graduates are bonded for at least three years and can receive extra payments for up to five years.

• Te Whatu Ora website - voluntary bonding scheme

Types of employers varied

Midwives mainly work in public hospitals. However, they can work for a range of other employers, including:

• the Ministry of Health, working independently in small group practices or as part of a team providing care to a caseload of women
• private hospitals or birthing units
• education providers in training roles.

Midwifery Council of New Zealand

(04) 499 5040 - info@midwiferycouncil.health.nz - www.midwiferycouncil.health.nz

New Zealand College of Midwives

(03) 377 2732 - www.midwife.org.nz

Midwives may move into management, advisory, training or education roles in midwifery practice.

Midwives need to be:

• good at managing their time
• skilled in communicating with people
• patient and caring
• able to work well under pressure
• mature and responsible
• able to remain calm during emergencies
• observant and analytical
• good at making decisions.