Al poochino

Hoping for a little advice. We aren't looking at getting the ball moving for another 6-12 months (praying that the new government don't make it impossible in that time) but wondered if it's worth starting the process of getting registered with the NZ equivilent of the NMC in the meantime?

Thank you in advance x

scrubbedexpat094

I've not worked as a midwife for a good number of years here. Yes I would start the process with the NZ Midwifery Council to get registration here. It can be rather time-consuming though it has improved since I started the process back in 2004/5. They weren't quite sure what they wanted back then in terms of proof of the competencies required, so neither was I. I am still registered with them but don't have an Annual Practicing Certificate (APC).

www.midwiferycouncil.health.nz has all the information you need to get you started. I would recommend that you look at the NZ College of Midwives site and consider joining. I am a member and I find it useful for keeping up to date with what's going on here.

The journals they produce aren't as informative or as interesting as say the BJM, RCM or The Practicing Midwife, so I would keep a subscription to one of those going even when you get over here, if you subscribe already.

Best of British

spouse of scouse

Bit disappointed here. I clicked on this thread because I thought BE was about to have its first online birth

scrubbedexpat094

Life is full of disappointments chuck!

Catlas

Hi guys!
I'm a UK qualified midwife and moved to NZ in April with my partner. I'm looking to register with the NZ Midwifery Council but I'm struggling with the self assessment for the competencies! I'm finding it hard to understand what exactly is wanted. Can anyone who has experience of this help? I have a detailed CV and portfolio which covers the aspects of the competencies.

Thanks in advance! x

scrubbedexpat094

It's a long time ago that I did it (2005) and I remember it being a real pain in the rear! Seems like nothing has changed.
I think I went through the competencies in turn and gave examples of how I met them in my practice, some of them I grouped together as it was a tedious and time-consuming process. I also did the refer to evidence in point 2.4 or whatever whenever I could. I provided them with copies of a care plan and notes to provide evidence of care planning and record keeping. I'm a bit vague on anything else I did but if my two brain cells meet and it comes back to me I shall let you know.
You won't be able to meet all of the competencies such as the Treaty of Waitangi stuff and that's okay. You will be able to put in stuff about being culturally sensitive though, I used examples of allowing privacy whilst religious practices, such as "Whispers" with Muslim women and their babies.

Hope this helps you a bit. Good luck!

Catlas

Thanks! It just seems like a box-ticking exercise, without any actual boxes! Every sentence seems to be "This is important because [reason]. I am able to do this as shown [portfolio reference]". Boring to write and, I'd imagine, boring to read by whoever has to!
I'll just crack on and hope my mind doesn't melt before I finish..!
Any other tips would be great, if you have them. Are you still working as a midwife? Where abouts?
Cx

scrubbedexpat094

I remember finding it very repetitive and boring too! I think a glass of wine or two helps to numb the sheer pain of writing this crap. I got mine done whilst I was in the UK and did a dummy care plan and notes, which some of my former colleagues contributed to, to give it a whiff of authenticity.

I worked here for two years, mostly at Birthcare, Parnell and Auckland City Hospital. Birthcare was okay for a while but it was mostly just P/N stuff, no deliveries and the occasional bit of antenatal stuff when an LMC was tied up elsewhere. I was bored stiff most of the time, didn't have as much autonomy as in the NHS and saw some practices that scared the sh1t out of me! If you work as an LMC then you'll get all the autonomy you could ever wish for but you won't have a life. Women call with silly things like hearburn at 11.30pm, or wanting to arrange a booking with you at a silly time in the evening.
I haven't practised for 9 years now, I do miss it and am considering a return as I've struggled to find any other work to do. I have to do all the overseas midwifery stuff which is a pain in the rear, as I was doing it years ago but was becoming very disillusioned with midwifery here and never finished it.

What I really missed from the NHS was the camaraderie, you just don't get that as much here unless you're on a shift with other British midwives. On bad days in the NHS I think it was the laughs, banter and support that kept us all going. I found a lot of us and them between hospital midwives and LMC's, as well as the Obs and Gobs and Paeds. The two hospitals I worked in in the UK had much more of a team feel about them. At Auckland City, the situation was even worse because the nurses and HCA's ruled the roost on some wards. I never got used to having nurses look after P/N women and babies, the HCA's don't do as much as there British counterparts. They are more like the domestic staff in an NHS hospital.

My main reason for doing a RTP is to have some dosh coming in, to get me socialising a bit more and give me options for working in Aussie or the UK.
Hope I haven't put you off, some Brit midwives love it here, though most of the ones I know are going more towards academic careers within midwifery now!

Where did you work in the UK? I was in Derby and Burton-on-Trent.