WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

Anecdotally I listen to some midwives who state they find the pace of work in the
delivery suite setting within the current climate of staffing shortages and an increasing
birth rate too stressful to maintain safe practice and personal emotional wellbeing. I
observe senior midwives leaving the profession because they tell me that physically and
mentally they feel unable to keep up with the relentless pace of tertiary based midwifery
practice. These comments are reflected in the Midwife Occupational Skill Shortage
Assessment paper (Department of Labour, 2006) which identifies the primary reasons for
midwives leaving the profession as “stress, burn out or not wanting responsibility” with
employers reporting “high workloads and long hours puts some people off becoming a
midwife” (p.11). This is further supported by Black (2007) cites midwives’ concerns and
the risks to patient safety in the workplace, attributing this to “lack of staff, resources, or
understanding and support in our roles” (p.20).
The responsibilities of the coordinators role
Unlike the days prior to Section 88 of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act
2000 (Ministry of Health, 2002) when the coordinator was in charge of the unit and
working with an employed team of midwives and doctors she knew, the current
legislative changes require New Zealand coordinators to also work with LMCs who hold
Access Agreements which gives them the legal right to work independently within the
hospital maternity facilities. As a consequence, the coordinator is in charge of a unit with
LMCs who she may not know.
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