# UK midwives in New Zealand?



## shammy

Hi, I am a UK born and trained midwife, considering a move to NZ. Just looking for info about what it's like to work as a midwife there. How is it different? What similarities are there? I have looked a little into the process of registering, but would appreciate any advice and tips on this. How long does it take? Do you have to register before job hunting?

Thanks in advance x


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## escapedtonz

shammy said:


> Hi, I am a UK born and trained midwife, considering a move to NZ. Just looking for info about what it's like to work as a midwife there. How is it different? What similarities are there? I have looked a little into the process of registering, but would appreciate any advice and tips on this. How long does it take? Do you have to register before job hunting?
> 
> Thanks in advance x


Hi,

As you know my wife was a sister in ICU/HDU back in the UK so I've asked her thoughts on your queries...she can't comment on the midwifery side of things, although she has heard its slightly different, especially on the community (as a pregnant woman you "find" your midwife rather than be allocated) but as for the registering side of things she says you don't have to register before looking for a job but its certainly easier to do before leaving UK. Her registration took about 4mths to come thru. You have to pass the academic IELTS exam and NZ Nursing Council need to obtain verification and transcripts from the NMC and your training school. Once you have registration you will need an annual Certificate to Practice (which is just like NMC reg & requirements..so many hrs wrked and studied etc) and then you're good to go!! She says she hopes this helps you a little


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## shammy

Thank you. Did your wife find a job before moving out there? I am wondering if it would be simpler to use some kind of agency to help sort it all out, it seems rather complicated and daunting!


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## escapedtonz

shammy said:


> Thank you. Did your wife find a job before moving out there? I am wondering if it would be simpler to use some kind of agency to help sort it all out, it seems rather complicated and daunting!


No she's only recently started looking for work. Did want to get into practice nursing but she's having second thoughts at the moment and may approach the hospitals with ICU/HDU units to discuss likely positions.
Yes may be a good idea to join an agency specialising in jobs for nurses, but it should be straightforward enough to find vacancies yourself as there are many nurses jobs all over NZ.
My wife did all the registration stuff herself from the UK and didn't have any problems. It just takes a while to do it.
The IELTS was probably the most daunting even though she is English from English parents. Still said it wasn't easy & don't make the same mistake as she did.....you need the academic IELTS which is the more difficult one of the two. She did general first then found out it wasn't approved for nursing work Doh!!!


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## shammy

Thanks, have been having a look and there seem to be plenty of jobs, often through agencies who will help with visas, registration etc. I didn't expect to have any trouble finding jobs to apply for, would be interesting to hear from any midwives who have experience of working in both countries


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## lisamct

Hi, I'm a UK trained midwife. I qualified 2008, worked for 2 years in the UK then moved over here almost 3 years ago (wow that's gone fast!)

Where to start!
Easy ones first (going to try and keep this brief as I'm heading out on a night shift)

No you don't have to register before job hunting but most DHB's wont offer you a job without you at least having started the registration process. 
The process can take a few months depending on how long it takes to gather all the info together and for you to write the required pieces of evidence/exemplars. Its not really a hard process as much as a paper gathering exercise.
Once your here there are more courses you have to do to gain full registration, they take about 6 months and are mostly online (and should be paid for by your employer)

Midwifery here is pretty different to the UK, both in good and bad ways. 
-We have 2 different ways of working here as a midwife, the LMC system and core midwifery.
The LMC system is kinda like independant midwives in the UK except the women here dont pay and this the main way that most women receive care. LMC's have a caseload (usually around 50 women a year) and provide full antenatal, intra partum and post natal care. This is often within hospital settings, both low and high risk and less likely to be at home.
Core midwives work in the hopitals, maternity units and mostly do inpatient ante and post natal care (the LMC's doing the majority of everything else)
Core midwives earn less but, working shifts dont have to be on call 24/7 as the LMC's are. Core midwives dont do anything like as much labour care as UK hospital midwives do as LMC's come in to look after their own women, generally core staff only look after high risk women and women who just turn up unbooked.

I've worked within both systems and there's a lot more to this so I can fill you in more if you want more details...


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## shammy

Hi, thank you so much for your reply, it's good to hear from someone who's already made the move and can compare the 2 systems. Any info or insights you can give me would be great. Especially about what it's actually like to work there - websites etc can tell you the practicalities of getting registered, but nowhere tells you what it's like. Where in NZ are you? Are LMCs employee by the DHB? Just wondering, as I can only recall seeing vacancies for hospital midwives. Although with 2 young children I think it would have to be hospital for me anyway, as on calls would be difficult. Do they work in teams and cover each other's case loads or are they literally on call 24/7?

One thing I have been trying to work out - do I need to get my midwifery qualification assessed by NZQA? I did the advanced diploma, before all courses became degree. Was supposed to have the option to make it a degree, but that didn't happen, and then my employers wouldn't give me the time or funding to do it, and I couldn't afford it. But anyway, that's another story. I believe the diploma is recognised, but am confused as to whether it needs to be assessed for immigration purposes. I have read it suggested that getting registered is enough to claim the points, but I'm not so sure.

Thanks again for your reply x


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## lisamct

I've moved about a bit, first off I was a core midwife in a secondary unit in Rotorua, then moved to work as a core midwife in a primary unit in South Auckland, then worked as an LMC in central Auckland and now I'm back working core in South Auckland.

LMC's are mostly self employed. There are a few teams of employed LMC's around (I worked in one that no longer exists) but they're pretty rare. 
LMC's can pretty much work however they want. Most work with at least a partner so they have some back up but some work on their own which means they are on call pretty much 24/7 365 days a year. Usually LMC's who work alone take a smaller caseload, say 2 or 3 women a month, but not always.
I worked in a partnership but we did week on/week off call so we were on call from 8am on Monday till 8am the following Monday.

Work here can be very different from the UK.
As and LMC you have much more autonomy than you ever will in the UK. You are that womans Lead Maternity Carer and therefore responsible for all aspects of her care. LMC's work in accordance with a document called Section 88 (google will throw you up a copy) and are set up to provide primary low risk care although some choose to also look after women who are more high risk. Your pretty much on call for your women from booking till 6 weeks post natal and, although you can set up boundaries for appropriate contact, women often feel they can call you at any time about anything (like calling at 6am on a Saturday morning to check the time of the following weeks AN appt!)
LMC work does allow you excellent continuity though, but for me, I found on call took over my life and the intense one to one relationship you form with women means you never switch off from work which can be mentally exhausting. 

Core midwifery kind of depends on where you work. If you work in a large hospital then some of it is pretty much the same as in the UK, post natal ward is post natal ward wherever you work! In delivery suites you generally only look after the high risk women that LMC's have either chosen to hand over in labour as its out of their scope of practice or the women that couldnt get an LMC for some reason. You also often look after women until the LMC's get there or at the start of the labour process (most LMC"s dont attend their women until they're in good established labour) so your often jumping in between different rooms just doing bits and pieces. 
I work in a small primary unit so for me its mostly post natal care and labour care for women who just dont bother to book with a midwife and turn up at the door in labour (happens a lot where I am)
The main thing with being a core midwife is that the LMC always remains the responsible person unless the woman has been officially handed over to secondary care so you really have to default back to them before making any decisions/changing plans for their women and babies which takes away a lot of your own autonomy as a midwife. Can get a bit frustrating at times.

As for your registration I'm really not sure as I had my degree. You will need to get a transcript from where ever you trained and I think, rather than NZQA assessing this, the NZ Midwifery Council will check it out and make sure it matches up to NZ standards. Might be worth just chucking them an email and asking though, they're pretty good with queries.
Once you gain registration I think thats you all sorted as far as immigration is concerned as NZ Midiwfery Council has verified your qualification already and they're one of the named organisations that Immigration defers too. 

Boy that was long, I'm on a night shift and trying to keep myself awake by typing!
Hope that helps..


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## shammy

Thank you so much, that's really helpful. I think core sounds like the way to go if I can - I like the sound of the autonomy as an LMC, but just couldn't commit to the on-calls at the minute. Maybe when the children are older. I am used to popping in and out and doing bits and bobs - I have been based in the hospital antenatal clinic for the last few years, and am often redeployed to labour ward to help out. I'm on maternity leave right now,but will be returning to work on a rotational basis for a few months before we plan to move, so will hopefully be able to update my skills. 

What sort of courses do you have to do for registration? Sorry for all the questions. Hope you don't mind


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## lisamct

shammy said:


> What sort of courses do you have to do for registration? Sorry for all the questions. Hope you don't mind


Dont mind at all.

When you first register you'll be registered with conditions and these will be that you complete the required courses within (I think) 2 years.
When I came they were;
2 day Treaty of Waitangi course
NZ Midwifery Systems - online
Pharmacology (midwives have full prescribing rights here) - online

I think they have have now added another cultural Competency course online as well as the Neonatal Examination Course


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## shammy

Thanks, doesn't sound like anything too daunting, then. It has occurred to me I will probably need to do stuff like suturing and IV cannulation, which I haven't had the opportunity to do yet, being based in the Antenatal clinic. Do you think that will be an issue? I am hoping to do those packages when I return to work, but time might be tight by then.

Did you have a job before you moved out there?


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## lisamct

Nah its not too daunting, its all pretty straight forward, just a bit time consuming.

You probably should be able to suture and cannulate but, depending on where you work it wont be such an issue for a while at least. I'd been in community for a year before I came over so not long after I got here I went on a full day suturing course to brush up on my skills. Also my first DHB had cannulation as part of their orientation package so got that covered there as well.
I've found that if you just let them know there's something your not confident with most DHB's are quite happy to get you the training you need.

I did have a job before I came over. I got my registration in March, applied and got a job in (I think) April and then came over and started in the August.


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## shammy

Hi there, resurrecting my old thread with a new question - about to apply to register, as my husband's job situation (as in he no longer has one) means we are considering bringing the move forward and have been advised to start with getting registered.

My question is what sort of things they will expect to see in my cpd portfolio? At the moment mine is not much more than a collection of certificates and wondering if I need to do some work on it or are they just looking for evidence of the study you've done?

Also, bringing it forward might mean moving and looking for work without going back to my current job - is that likely to be an issue when looking for a job?


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