WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

evealed their relationships with obstetricians were crucial (p.176). There was constancy
of ‘knowing’ between the obstetrician and the LMC midwife and these midwives
reported preferring to work with obstetricians who they found ‘like minded’. Challenges
were reported if they needed to communicate with registrars who didn’t know them or
their practice.
Which DHB midwives were on duty also made a significant difference to LMCs’
experiences when they cared for their clients in delivery suite with Skinner (2005)
reporting feedback from one group interview revealing “support from midwives in the
secondary hospital was often lacking and was a source of much distress, heightening the
level of medico-legal anxiety” (p.179). Another group she interviewed identified their
relationship with their secondary service as “medium to poor” and spoke of being “eaten
alive” (p.182).
Thus, for LMCs bringing their clients into the secondary/tertiary hospital delivery suite
setting, tensions can be very real. It is the coordinator who is their point of contact at the
LMC/DHB midwifery interface and as a result, the relationship between the LMC and
coordinator is pivotal for teamwork and a positive professional working relationship.
New Zealand perspectives of secondary and tertiary hospital midwifery dynamics from
the inside ‘looking out’
Isa et al., (2002) presented a paper to the New Zealand College of Midwives Conference
which addressed midwifery practice at Middlemore Hospital, an Auckland tertiary
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