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Healthy educators are going high-tech to solve New Zealand's midwife crisis. With the country in the grip of a baby boom and its 15 district health boards short of an estimated 200 experts to deliver them, polytechs have turned to distance learning to entice students.
Otago and Christchurch polytechnics have designed a new curriculum for their three-year bachelor of midwifery course allowing students to study mostly from home. The course is particularly aimed at women in rural areas in the South Island.
Students will learn through DVDs, video conferences and printed course material. They will also work with local midwives and attend one of the two polytechnics for a few weeks' practical study every year.
The associate head of Otago's midwifery school, Sally Baddock, hopes the 45-week-a-year course will be available next year and help double the number of students.
"It's exciting that we will be able to deliver at a distance and at a flexible pace and time," she said.
The Midwifery Council has asked course providers to remove barriers for potential students.
Jim Green, chief executive of the Gisborne-based Tairawhiti District Health Board, who is heading a strategy group trying to tackle the problem, has backed the move.
Tony Mansfield, general manager of Serious About Maternity Care, a nationwide co-operative of obstetricians, midwives and GPs, also supported it , as long as students got personal tutoring in the practical elements. But he warned this was not a quick fix and said New Zealand would have a shortage of midwives for a few years yet.
Auckland University of Technology head of midwifery Jackie Gunn said that from next year, students attending satellite classes in Northland, South Auckland and Taranaki should be able to join Auckland students via video links. "They will be coming to school by teleconferencing."
Satellite courses in South Auckland this year had attracted more Maori and Pacific Island people into midwifery studies, she said.
The Ministry of Health has launched a $50,000 drive to recruit midwives from Europe and Australia. The Government has also injected $750,000 into the Clinical Training Agency so midwives can extend their skills.
