New Zealand College of Midwives (INC)

The honouring of Joan Donley, O.B.E.

By Young, C.
on Thursday, 01 Mar 1990 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 2

The New Year's Honours List saw the recognition of Joan Donley and midwifery; it endorsed their value and paid tribute to the service midwives provide to the community. It also recognised giving birth at home as an accepted choice, domiciliary midwifery as a respected midwifery practice, and gave a final polish to the bridge which has built between hospital and community based midwives. Joan herself would, no doubt, be very relieved if I stopped there. She sees her O.B.E., which sits somewhat uncomfortably on her genuinely modest shoulders, as - while a little embarrassing for her personally - a matter for great pride for all midwives as a recognition of their worth nationwide. In this she shows her usual accuracy. Midwifery has become the brave new world of childbirth and struggled back out of the closet to re-claim the pride and skill it rightfully owns. The door has been opened, not only by professionals, but by the women of our communities, who want midwives to befriend and care for them through their childbearing, to bequeath the gift of an effective midwifery service to future generations.

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A minor discomfort

By Ashton, J.
on Thursday, 01 Mar 1990 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 2

Problems associated with pregnancy have long been classified in two distinct categories - those considered to endanger the health of the woman and/or baby and those considered to be "bothersome" to the mother but seemingly not of significant interest to raise great concern in the carers. The former category has been arbitrarily labelled major disorders of pregnancy, the latter has been described by various euphemisms to portray non life threatening problems that women during their pregnancy may be forced to endure. Some examples of these are "Minor Disorders" (Beishcher Mackay, 1978:62; Sweet, 1988:170; Hickman, 1978:22), "Minor Discomforts" (Gaskin, 1977:231; Brickner, 1988:67), "Minor Complaints" (Green, 1975:141). Pregnancy affects all systems of the body, some more markedly than others and great variance may be found in individual women. The changes may produce problems that include morning sickness, fatigue, constipation, backache, dizziness, ptyalism, urinary frequency, breast tenderness, oedema, vulval and peripheral variscosities, leg cramps, haemorrhoids, epistaxis, bleeding gums, dyspnoea, heart burn, pruritis of skin and vulva leukorrhoea, palpitations, nasal stuffiness, round ligament pain, spider angiomas and skin changes. This discussion will examine the significance of these so called minor discomforts with reference to two discomforts so commonly encountered by women during the early weeks of their pregnancies - morning sickness and fatigue. In doing so, it challenges the very concept of 'minor'.

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Midwifery Data/Consumer Survey: Dunedin Domiciliary Midwives Collective Report 1/9/1988 to 31/8/1989

By Hannah, C., Davies, R.
on Thursday, 01 Mar 1990 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 2

The collective DMC was formed in August of 1988 following the departure from Dunedin on the only domiciliary midwife, Adrienne Mulqueen in the preceding July. Several local women wished to have a homebirth; the Collective formed in response. The Collective format developed as those midwives interested in participating all had other commitments, so sharing client care was the only feasible way of providing a homebirth service for the Dunedin community. The Collective also provided a continuity of service for women who choose to have hospital births. This was possible because at the outset three of the five midwives involved in the Collective worked in the Delivery Area of the local maternity hospital, Queen Mary. This service operated like a domino with the woman usually returning to her home within a short time after the birth. When the Collective began Dunedin homebirths were very rare events, averaging only one per month. The income generated from this or rather the lack of it was another reason to opt for the collective style of service. All the women who wished a homebirth were visited by all Collective members. Decisions whether to accept or decline the care were made by consensus. Thereafter each of the three midwives involved in the homebirth aspect of the Collective's work would visit the woman and her family in an attempt to establish the necessary level of rapport and understanding that is essential for homebirth... Over the Collective's first year of practice the midwives involved have found that their individual levels of confidence in their own skills and practical midwifery ability grew significantly. Each midwife became more grounded in normal community midwifery.

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From small beginnings

By Ryan, K.
on Thursday, 01 Mar 1990 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 2

Who would ever have thought that a picnic attended by seven friends and their babies in Franklin Park, Illinois, in 1956 would have led to the establishment of a multinational organisation with branches all over the world and affiliates in Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland? The one thing that these women had in common was a desire to breastfeed their babies and to help their friends who wanted also to feel the deep fulfillment of the breastfeeding bond. And now, more that thirty years later that is still the common link between women involved in La Leche League (pronounced la lay-chay league) which simple translated means "the milk". The organisation has grown to be the recognised world authority on breastfeeding. In New Zealand, La Leche League began at a meeting in Cambridge in 1974 and has since grown to cover the whole country. In 1988, La Leche League became an independent affiliate of La Leche International. It is a voluntary non-profit making organisation funded by member's subscriptions, donations and supporting grants.

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Political column: birth officially proclaimed as normal

By Donley, J.
on Thursday, 01 Mar 1990 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 2

1989 has been a momentous year for midwives. First, there was the official launching of our New Zealand College of Midwives; after many years of being little sister to the nursing profession, we made our debut. Then, after ten years of struggle, the 'separate' midwifery education - a whole academic year devoted to midwifery - was commenced at three centres - Auckland, Wellington and Otago/Southland. A further important facet of this course is that it is based on the ICM definition of a midwife, as an independent practitioner. ...The right of a woman to choose a midwife for her care during a normal pregnancy and birth is supported by the Department of Health Policy Recommendations for Pregnancy and Childbirth (6th draft). ...This is the first time since the 1920s that the Department of Health has officially proclaimed that pregnancy and birth are normal.

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A midwife's view: evening primrose oil to assist labour

By Muir, T.
on Thursday, 01 Mar 1990 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 2

I had a birth recently I'd like to share ... Christine was having her 2nd baby and opted for a home birth. her 1st child was born 10 years ago and she had been infertile since. Her 1st pregnancy went to 43 weeks when she was induced, followed by epidural, forceps etc...The baby felt quite large but everything seemed OK. 42 weeks came... we had tried everything...I happened to be reading something Joan had written about inserting Evening Primrose Oil vaginally which works as a natural prostaglandin.

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International appointment for Dunedin woman

By Editor
on Thursday, 01 Mar 1990 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 2

Dunedin woman, Mrs Jenny Drew, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA). ICEA has more than 10,000 members in 32 countries who support the philosophy of family centred maternity care and freedom of choice for childbearing families based on knowledge of childbirth alternatives. ICEA has an extensive range of books, pamphlets and audio/visual material for parents, childbirth educators, and health professionals. The organisation publishes a quarterly 'Journal', holds an annual Convention, and offers an internationally recognised Teacher Certification Programme. This is the first time that New Zealand has been represented on the Board, although Auckland domiciliary midwife Joan Donley is a Board consultant. Jenny is elected to the position of Director of Teacher Services and as such will oversee the work of three service committees - Breastfeeding, Caesarean Options and Community Outreach. Her main brief will be to assist individuals and groups in any country to develop and improve teacher preparation programmes, and to assist in updating current teaching resources and aids.

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Welcome to the NZCOM Journal

By Hedwig, J., Manoharan, H.
on Friday, 01 Sep 1989 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 1

Welcome to the first issue of the New Zealand College of Midwives Official Journal. The aim of this journal is to enable midwives: - to share their reflections in the whole field of midwifery, including practice education and research, imparting knowledge and personal experiences - to communicate information and insights by engaging in fruitful dialogue and debate with the providers and consumers of midwifery services.

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Guest editorial

By Guilliland, K.
on Friday, 01 Sep 1989 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 1

The year 1989 has been a remarkable year for midwives and midwifery in New Zealand. Future midwives will view this year as a significant step forward in our history. Ultimately, the decisions made and directions taken will have far reaching effects on the New Zealand family. The reaffirmation of midwifery as a profession in its own right will, I believe, lead to a stronger and more effective midwifery service which in turn will strengthen women's perception of birth as a normal life event.

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Letters to the Editor: Congratulations

By various
on Friday, 01 Sep 1989 in New Zealand College of Midwives Journal - Volume: 1

Letters from various organisations congratulating the College and the Journal on their launch, including WHO, Royal College of Midwives, the Federation of New Zealand Parents Centres Inc, Ministry of Women's Affairs, Australian College of Midwives

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Search the New Zealand College of Midwives Journal

The honouring of Joan Donley, O.B.E.

A minor discomfort

Midwifery Data/Consumer Survey: Dunedin Domiciliary Midwives Collective Report 1/9/1988 to 31/8/1989

From small beginnings

Political column: birth officially proclaimed as normal

A midwife's view: evening primrose oil to assist labour

International appointment for Dunedin woman

Welcome to the NZCOM Journal

Guest editorial

Letters to the Editor: Congratulations

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