WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

may be an LMC obstetrician, an LMC midwife or an LMC General
Practitioner. Women who have not registered with an LMC and who have
received little or no antenatal care receive DHB midwife/core midwifery care
when they present at a DHB hospital. DHBs employ midwives who
specifically offer LMC hospital team midwifery care to women. DHB
midwives/core midwives also provide midwifery care to women whose
conditions require handover of care to secondary services in accordance with
Section 88 referral guidelines (Ministry of Health, 2002, p. 31-36).
Tertiary Hospital: There are six tertiary hospital facilities in New Zealand
with three in the upper North Island where this study is focused. These
facilities provide intensive care facilities for women and babies in addition to
the provision of secondary care and are referred to as Level 3 units.
Secondary Hospital Care: There are 18 secondary care hospitals in New
Zealand which provide limited specialist maternity and neonatal care and are
referred to as Level 2 units.
Primary Hospital Care: There are both DHB and privately owned primary
care birthing facilities in New Zealand where woman who are identified as
‘low risk’ may choose to birth with the anticipation of the normal birth of a
well neonate. These are referred to as Level 1 units.
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