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Where do all the midwives go?

Abstract:

Direct entry midwifery education has been available in New Zealand since 1992 when it was re-introduced as an ‘experimental’ programme following the 1990 Nurses Amendment Act. Five schools of midwifery (Auckland University of Technology, Waikato Polytechnic, Massey University in Wellington and Palmerston North, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology and Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin) now offer pre-registration midwifery programmes for both direct-entry and registered nurse students. All programmes are required to produce midwives who are capable of independent (autonomous) midwifery practice and able to take on the role of Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) within the New Zealand maternity services (Nursing Council of New Zealand, 1996). Despite the evaluation and monitoring of these programmes that has occurred, graduates have not been followed up to discover whether they do in fact work independently after graduation.

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ageing midwifery workforce, autonomous midwifery practice, direct entry education, graduate employment opportunities