Genesis

One can't please everyone. A visit to a town is very different to living there for 3 years. John Cleese proved that with his 24 hour visit to Palmy dubbing it the 'suicide capital of the world'.....what a load of bollocks to come to such an assumption in a day.

Back to Northampton Central. Foul, violent, drunken youths outside your home terrorising everyone and a town centre full of drunken thugs smashing seven bells out of each other, prositutes doing tricks in the alley by the house, druggies in the park and the occasional murder and rape a few 100 yards from the back garden gate. Welcome to my old world. Yes it was that bad..it was worse in fact.

love30stm

Well yes I suppose you see the bad side,I only went shopping...lol and even when I went back to Daventry, yes that is where I lived, I could see the gangs and smashed windows I just wish my daughter would see it that way, instead of thinking it is so bad here!! but anyway we keep going on..as I said I like it here, well perhaps not wanganui, but I am happy I live in New Zealand, but i wished my daughter felt the same, and its good your kids were young when they came, but having said that my youngest daughter is doing well, she has lots of friends thrives at school and loves it, but anyway cant please everyone though, but i wish i could

Genesis

NZ must seem like a very harsh place to a person in their late teens who is used to the cut and thrust of the UK. All I can say is that I know of a handful of young people who were moved by their parents at a difficult time, most came right, perchance your daughter will? If not could she return to the UK if she finds NZ untenable...or is that a non starter?

scrubbedexpat094

Firstly, I love living in New Zealand. I love the more laid-back way of life, the opportunity to do & try things that I wouldn't have done in the UK. We have a great social life & feel no pressure to 'keep up with the Jones's'. I love living by the sea & having so many gorgeous beaches to choose from for swimming, kayaking & romantic strolls

The only major 'blot on the landscape' for me has been the maternity system & that saddens me. I'm not the greatest midwife ever BUT I was a bloody good one. I shall try to convey some of the issues I have with the system here. This is my experience & those of some of my colleagues both from the UK & NZ. I don't by any means hold the UK system as perfect, far from it but it is IMVHO better & safer.

I would like to clarify that I would never tell someone not to come to NZ & try it but just to come with your eyes wide-open. Everyone must make this decision for themselves & it is not for me or anyone else to judge that.

Ok, here goes

1) Shortage of midwives in NZ - There is a chronic shortage of midwives in NZ, so wards are understaffed & in some areas women struggle to find an independent midwife as their LMC (Lead Maternity Carer). On the ward you will find m/w's, RN's, EN's, Obstetric nurses & HCA's. This means that the standards of care & information a woman is given is highly variable. I have absolutely nothing against nurses, but they are used to treating sick people & I have seen many instances of perfectly normal mums & babies being given inappropriate care.

2) Poor management - a number of wards lack strong mgmt whom are supportive of their staff & therefore bullying can be a problem.

So far it's not too bad is it? Sounds familiar I think these are problems in maternity systems the world over.

3) & for me the biggy! There is no supervision in NZ. M/w's voted against this a few years back as they believed it would be too restrictive on their practice! They don't realise the benefits this has for all concerned & the safety net it provides for m/w's, women & babies. I have been in discussion with Sandra Walsh on this issue & we have considered writing an article for midwifery journals about supervision. M/w's are assessed every 2 years now(it was 3 up until recently). The council expect a huge amount of paperwork for this & it has caused a huge amount of stress for midwives. In mine & other's view, it doesn't actually address safe practising issues. A lay-person is on the assessment panel (usually someone with an axe to grind!), which the majority of us (I include kiwi-trained m/w's) found to be very insulting. Especially when that person asks you not to comment on eg.cannulation, for your reflection & "could you make it more exciting because we get bored of reading them"

4) Lack of evidence-based practice. With so many different people giving care & doing the 'stuff' they've always done despite good research to the contrary, no wonder women are frequently confused & sometimes compromised. As a hospital-based m/w, I was often over-ruled by the LMC or the paed. For example, most paeds & some LMC's are obsessed with weighing babies on day 2 when the Guthrie test is done (Done at 48hrs old here). I used to refuse unless I believed there to be a clinical reason to do it. Then you have all sorts of hassle, so you think 'sod it I'll do it' even though it's against your better judgment. The kiwis are obsessed with weighing & measuring things. Placentas - cos you knew what it weighed in utero!!!, Length of baby - cos that's very accurate & will tell you so much

5) Record-keeping - this is phenomenally bad. God help some staff when litigation comes to NZ. CTG's are often not written on, other than the woman's name. Some staff will write up their notes for example, 7pm to 6.45am " Mrs X has slept well & fed the baby a couple of times. Some help given".
Many labour notes are pitiful. When you come over continue to keep your records to UK standards. Also know of an ind m/w, who 'forgot' to give synto to a woman, performed CCT(they aren't big on watching for signs of separation, so give the injection & start pulling immediately), caused a PPH of 3 litres & then falsified her records!

6)Midwifery Council - I have found them to be inefficient, unhelpful & a money-making machine. They seem to be trying too hard to justify their existence.

7) Safety & hygiene - all I know is that in my 20 or so months working in Auckland, I have seen far more dangerous & questionnable practice from m/w's, Obs & GP's than I ever did in my 10years in the UK. Probably 2 incidences caused me concern in that time in the UK, I was seeing that many a week here. Eg. I was 2nd m/w in on a delivery with an LMC. The woman was in the pool & ended up with a waterbirth, which the LMC m/w informed me that she had never seen before, never mind done . She handled it incorrectly & baby was as flat as a pancake & needed resus! I did report it to my manager but she did nothing. I have seen lots of other instances like this.
Poor hygiene is an issue also. Lack of hand-washing, m/w's wearing lots of rings, false nails etc. Also, they aren't big into latex-free stuff either.
Greed causes issues with safety too. LMC's are paid for each delivery, so they tend to want to 'catch' their own babies. Even if they have been up over 24hrs, some don't defer to a team member in the best interests of the woman & baby, because they want the money!

8) Too much choice! Women can have an independent m/w, Obs, GP or the hospital as their LMC. So I have seen Dr's trying to be m/w's & vice versa. The system is inefficient & expensive. NZ can't afford it. Independent m/w's can earn a good living, there is a limit on case-load set by the midwifery council but I know of m/w's who have exceeded that by some margin. Independent midwifery does give you the freedom to pick & choose when you work, ie. take a few months off in the summer.But a number of LMC's are suffering from burn-out.

9)Pay & holidays - Pay is not bad by NZ standards but an RN on the same ward will get the same pay as you! Even though they aren't able to do all the stuff you do. Plus it's poor by UK standards, but you don't come to NZ to get rich. The holidays are 4 weeks plus days in lieu for public holidays. Working week is 40hrs not 37.5.

I think this gives you a flavour of some of the issues I have encountered, there are more but I'm nursing a broken hand & it's saying 'enough'. Must mention though, that we all laugh at the number of 'princesses' we have had to look after.

On a positive note, you generally will only have to look after 4-6 women on a shift, which is a nice change from the 6-12 I used to have in England.

The situation is likely to be much better in the smaller areas but colleagues in Wellington & Chch report similar experiences there.

I am very sad to have given up my career but in the end it was making mine & my OH's life a misery. I miss aspects of my job but I don't regret giving it up.

trisha nolan

Well thank you for that because my 13 year old who would be 14 when we go!!, does not want to go. And i not wanting to do that to him, but i not happy here. i so confused....

banjax

What advise would you have for an alternative to the NHS in the UK as when our 2 year old was born the midwives were fantastic but it all went wrong on the ward. Can I just ask is there a private health option to maternity in NZ as there is in the UK?

southerner

I'd like to say as a user of both UK and NZ midwifery services, we have had excellent experience of both systems (NHS and GP/public hospital). We probably had more british staff in the NZ hospital than back in London.

Robbo25

I never found Northampton THAT bad, but then we lived in one of the nice little suburbs adjoining green fields. However I was always aware of the terrible anti-social behaviour that occured and still does whenever I look at the Chronicle and Echo online.

We moved to Auckland last year with two boys (11 & 8), and we purposely wanted Auckland to ensure there was enough happening for boys of their age, having known some year in a large UK town.

The older one has complained of being a little unsettled, but was at a different school for the end of last year to the one now after we bought a place, and has only had around six months to get know people, but now he putting down roots with sports teams and generally doing things that he has in common with his mates.

So the generally we have no regrest about coming here, the only one I can think of is that the bar is set so low work wise (in terms of challenge), either make sure work isn't THAT important to you or that you go for a job far higher than perhaps you feel comfortable. Work has been the hardest thing for me to get my head around.

BEVS

Ok. Your choice. So, you are a grandma and have a 13 year old too .
May I suggest a visit to your own threads. One here. and also here

People are kindly responding to you and all that is seen is that you remain confused without interacting further about your situation.

scrubbedexpat094

You mean I've written all that for nothing . It took me ages to type & me with a dicky hand too . I WANT & NEED POTM 4 for that

BEVS

OMG I forgot you are the legendary One Handed Vital Big Sticks.

Am Loolah

I did a half marathon on Sunday before you go giving her the sympathy vote ... have I mentioned my chaffing ...

louloumama

Thank you Vitalstatistix for this insight as it is something too certainly bear in mind whilst I try to weigh things up without wearing the rose tinted glasses !!!!

I cannot believe that something as basic as hand hygiene is not a priority . its not rocket science eh and i have to admit to never having seen any evidence base for weighing a placenta ???

I will however try and remain open minded and I know there will be cultural perspectives that will seem very different to which I will need to adjust, but I hope not to lose sight of evidence based safe practice which seems to be pivotal to maternity care here in the UK.

In NZ they will never believe the length to which I can document. ... The women I look after only have to blink and it gets documented

What a shame for midwifery that you no longer practice, but you need to be happy in what you do and it certainly sounds like you are now looking forward. Good luck with whatever exciting opportunities lie ahead and thanks again for the honest account .

x

love30stm

The difference with my daughter is she wanted to go! shes just a pain in the ass...lol, and well she could have been the same back in England with some problem or another, but I have told her if she wants to go back in the future she can, that's all I can do, she will be 16 in august, and we came here when she was 13, but I know lots of girls and boys her age who have settled shes just stubborn, yours will be ok im sure. I dont know anyone else who has a difficult teenager as mine!

scrubbedexpat094

Thank you Louloumama, just wish I knew what to do next But something will turn up. Good luck with your adventure. I was just thinking about you yesterday & wondering if you are planning to give up your job in the UK or whether you could negotiate a career break. It would give you a safety net should you need it. Just a thought

Had to laugh at your documentation statement. You are obviously more lady-like than me as I used to say the same thing, only it wasn't blink I used