'An unpredictable job': Midwifery becoming more demanding

Whanganui midwives (top from left) Jo McSweeny, Esther Manville and (bottom from left) Jo Watson, Melissa Lacy and Emily Dixon are marking International Midwives Day. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui midwives want the community to recognise their importance as expectations of their roles builds.

One hundred years of progress is the theme of Thursday's International Midwives Day.

Jo McSweeny, who has been a midwife since 1998, said the pressure on midwives had been mounting for a long time.

"It used to be you call your midwife when you're in labour, now they can call, text, message. There's a lot more contact and a lot more demand on your energy," she said.

"We diagnose things more and there's a lot more writing of scans and prescriptions. All those things have increased substantially since I became a midwife.

"It's harder for midwives to be as autonomous as they were."

McSweeny said not many health professionals worked like midwives did, and midwifery was about helping clients on the journey to becoming a mum.

"Your midwife is with you from the time you book them until your midwife discharges you when your baby's between four and six weeks old."

For midwife Melissa Lacy, it's a partnership role with the mother rather than a hierarchy role.

"We are walking alongside the woman rather than sitting at the head of the table and diagnosing something," Lacy said.

"We let a woman lead the majority of her care. Women give birth to babies, not the doctor."

McSweeny said in New Zealand the community's knowledge of what a midwife actually did was low.

"Someone asked me what is a midwife and I thought that was really weird, because the first person you ever met was probably a midwife."

During March, 81 babies were born in Whanganui.

This was highest number of births recorded by the Whanganui District Health Board since their records began 20 years ago.

With the increase in births comes increased expectations for midwives.

"We are on call 24/7 and I don't think many people can relate to what that really means," McSweeny said.

"The recognition for what we do to get paid is not so great."

McSweeny said midwives took more work than they should to be paid a fair wage.

"I had a woman say to me today, I can only do appointments in the weekends because I work," midwife Emily Dixon said.

"And I said I can only do appointments on weekdays because I work and have a family.

"It's what people expect from us. Our time is valuable."

Midwife Esther Manville said the average time people spent in the profession was only two to three years, down from an average of six years when she first started practicing midwifery five years ago.

"There's a shortage of midwives here. In the world actually, not even just in New Zealand," McSweeny said.

"The hospital are picking up the shortfall, but they just aren't resourceful either."

McSweeny said the shortage resulted in fragmented distribution of a woman's care if they couldn't get a midwife.

"It's a very unpredictable job, which you have to learn to love, or you just won't keep doing it," McSweeny said.

They want to see more midwives, and specifically more Māori and Pasifika midwives.

"We play a part in empowering woman to realise how important we [women], undervalued our entire lives, are in society," Lacy said.

"And how strong we are to have babies and bring new life into the world. That's why I'm a midwife."