ISSN 1172-6970 (print copy)
ISSN 1172-9457 (electronic copy)

Issue 6 (October 2010)

Issue 5 (February 2010)

Issue 4 (November 2009)

Issue 3 (August 2009)

Issue 2 (May 2009)

Issue 1 (February 2009)

Price: NZ$28.50 (add to order)       Issue 5 (February 2010) Display: Table of Contents Subscribers

Table of Contents:

Editorial
Maggie Banks
page 5
Full text PDF (254 KB) FREE

Correspondence
pages 6-7
Full text PDF (692 KB) FREE

Our Labours
Karin Bettley
page 8 (Poem)
Full text PDF (649 KB)

Auscultation – The Action of Listening
Robyn Maude, Justine Lawson and Maralyn Foureur
pages 9-17
Full text PDF (1088 KB)
The discovery of the ability to hear the unborn baby’s heart sounds during pregnancy and labour is tracked, and the historical significance of having this knowledge is highlighted.

When Three Stages Just Aren’t Enough
Avon Lookmire
pages 18-22
Full text PDF (1470 KB)
An alternative to the ‘three stages of labour’ paradigm is introduced, one which grew from the need to have more meaningful ‘stages’ for labouring women while reflecting a midwifery  rather than an obstetric model of care.

Why Reflective Writing?
Liz James
pages 23-26
Full text PDF (918 KB)
Since reflective writing encourages practitioners to make sense of their experiences and identify their learning requirements, it is important they are experienced with this tool. Despite having used reflective writing within assessments over the previous two years of study only six of the 27 third year midwifery students studying toward a Bachelor of Midwifery felt confident about using reflective writing in a personal sense at the beginning of the academic year. Using a questionnaire, the students were asked about their experience of writing reflectively. This paper describes their responses.

Midwifery Stitches
page 26
Full text PDF (743 KB)

Access and Utilisation of Midwifery Services by Pacific Women: A Scoping Exercise to Inform the Development of a Bigger Project
Ausaga Faasalele Tanuvasa
pages 29-33
Full text PDF (1775 KB)
There is limited research available on Pacific women’s experiences of midwifery care in Aotearoa/New Zealand. A scoping exercise was undertaken for three months in 2007 to assess the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of a sample of Pacific women (New Zealand-born and Island-born Pacific women) about their experiences of midwifery care, and the professional experiences of midwives. The findings have informed an application for a bigger study which was successful in 2008. Methods The data were obtained from face-to-face and telephone discussions with midwives and other health professionals (n=9); group discussions and a questionnaire with New Zealand-born and Island-born Pacific women (n=23) in Wellington. Women were asked to discuss their antenatal and midwifery experiences; and also the professional experiences of midwives. Results There is scant information about NZ-born and Island-born Pacific women’s attitudes to and experiences of antenatal and midwifery services. Data from the scoping exercise suggest there are different issues which arise for these two groups of mothers. The findings suggest a need to explore: (1) Strategies to cater for the needs of NZ-born and Island-born Pacific women; and (2) Enhancing Pacific midwifery capacity. Conclusions The scoping exercise addressed barriers to, and opportunities for, antenatal and midwifery care experienced by Pacific women; and professional experiences of midwives and other health workers.

Lessons from a Midwife Becoming a Mother. Or, How Does a Medieval Spanish Bridge, Two Poodles and a Purple Hose Relate to ‘Career Enhancement’?
Heather Wallace
Three personal journeys of labour and birth for ‘Heather the Woman’ and three ‘key’ lessons
for ‘Heather the Midwife’ are shared, with a little bit of ritual, myth and magic around the edges.
pages 33-36
Full text PDF (956 KB)

Midwifery Choices
Maggie Banks
As the 20 year anniversary of the return of midwifery autonomy in New Zealand approaches, questions are raised about the midwife’s role in the Cascade of unnecessary Intervention which remains prevalent in the country.
pages 37-39
Full text PDF (767 KB)

‘Knowing’ the Unknowable: Pregnancy Testing and the Gentleness of Uncertainty
Cecil Tamang
The possibility is raised that exclusive reliance on such technological ‘knowing’ may limit
our opportunity to engage in the inner process of change and growth that is part of
becoming a mother. I
pages 40-44
Full text PDF (678 KB)

The Stork and the Phoenix: Birth, Burnout and Rebirth
Michele Klein
pages 45-52
Full text PDF (1513 KB)

Midwifery in New Zealand, 1904-1971
Jane Stojanovic
pages 53-62
Full text PDF (859 KB) FREE
Childbirth for European women in early twentieth century New Zealand was family centred. The majority of births took place in the home, accepted as a difficult but natural part of a woman’s role in life. Midwives were mostly married women who worked autonomously and had usually borne children themselves. By the 1970s this picture had dramatically changed. Virtually all births took place in hospital and were under the control of medical men and women. When legislation was passed (the Nurses Act 1971) that removed the right of New Zealand midwives to practice autonomously, New Zealand midwifery had largely been subsumed by nursing, controlled by medicine and displaced from a community based profession into a hospital based workforce. This article examines how the trends of medicalisation, hospitalisation, and nursification changed the New Zealand maternity services from 1900 to 1971, outlining the effect those changes had on the midwifery profession. The changes described here were also common to other western societies; examining how they occurred provides a context for understanding the history of midwifery in New Zealand.

The Story That Got Midwives and Obstetricians Talking Together
Margaret Gardener and Jennie Crawshaw
pages 63-67
Full text PDF (1047 KB)
Women’s feelings of dissatisfaction with obstetric consultations for breech-presenting babies
prompted a multi-disciplinary hospital meeting to air the issues while trying to achieve some
resolution in a New Zealand tertiary hospital.

Midwifery Skills for Emergencies Intensives
pages 27-28
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Mind, Body and Spirit Midwifery Workshop
pages 43-45
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REARING TO GO! A Breech Birth Workshop
pages 61-62
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