Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Midwife who told patient to be 'ladylike' changed name

By Jessica Roden
Northern Advocate·
24 Mar, 2015 09:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Photo / Thinkstock

Photo / Thinkstock

A midwife who provided "seriously suboptimal care" to a teenager mother who required reconstructive surgery is practising in Northland under a new name.

In a decision released last month, the Human Right Review Tribunal found Natasha Thomson failed to provide an adequate standard of care to the patient in Blenheim in 2012.

The decision found Ms Thomson - who has practised in Northland for the past year as Natasha Hawtin - told the patient to keep her legs together and be "ladylike" after a painful tear which meant she could barely walk.

New Zealand Midwifery Council chief executive Sharron Cole said she did not know why the midwife changed her name. However, she said she had confidence Ms Thomson had learned from her mistakes.

A Northland District Health Board spokeswoman said Ms Thomson had been working successfully in Northland for one year. There were no concerns about her midwifery practice and asked the media respect the privacy of her and her patients.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms Thomson had been practising for about nine months when meeting the patient in July 2011 who was 16 years old and 10 weeks pregnant.

The tribunal decision found Ms Thomson did not provide adequate information to ensure the woman understood the labour process, including a birth plan and how to care for a newborn.

In the weeks following the birth the patient could barely walk due to a tear from the birth. When she did walk she feared the wound would open so she tied her thighs together with a dressing gown cord. Ms Thomson laughed when she saw what the patient had done which made the patient feel disparaged.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While at a doctor for a separate issue, the patient had the doctor check the tear which was found to be more serious than Ms Thomson assessed.

She was admitted to Wairau Hospital where it was confirmed the tear was infected and required reconstructive surgery.

The matter had been referred to the tribunal after a report by the Health and Disability Commissioner in July 2013 who found Ms Thomson's care was "seriously suboptimal" in this case.

Prior to these two reports the New Zealand Midwifery Council had also undertaken its own investigation, Ms Cole said. Ms Thomson was placed under supervision until December 2013.

Discover more

Restructure proposal puts jobs on line

26 Mar 09:00 PM

"I believe that Natasha is now a much better midwife that will give women much better care," Ms Cole said. "She would never make that mistake again."

Action to Improve Maternity founder Jenn Hooper said she would agree with Ms Cole if the 18 months' supervision was actually supervision. Ms Hooper said she doubted it was.

"Unless you're there in that room how do you check what's in the notes really happened?" Ms Hooper said. "How do you know it hasn't just been lip service for 18 months?".

While Ms Thomson's practicing certificate was due to expire at the end of this month the council had no reason not to renew it, Ms Cole said. That would only be looked at if she had repeated the same mistakes or there had been a new complaint.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

North warned thunderstorms possible as watch issued

02 Jul 09:33 PM
live
Northern Advocate

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 09:20 PM
Premium
Northern Advocate

Bay News: Historic clock heads home

02 Jul 05:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

North warned thunderstorms possible as watch issued

North warned thunderstorms possible as watch issued

02 Jul 09:33 PM

MetService says there is a moderate chance of upgrading the watch to a warning.

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds
live

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 09:20 PM
Premium
Bay News: Historic clock heads home

Bay News: Historic clock heads home

02 Jul 05:00 PM
Northland firm to pay $15.5k for unauthorised marine structures

Northland firm to pay $15.5k for unauthorised marine structures

02 Jul 05:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP