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Download AudioThe country midwives are taking the Ministry of Health to court for poor conditions and failing to ensure there are an adequate number of midwives.
College of Midwives president Nicole Pihema says midwives who work predominantly with Maori in some communities are carrying a particularly heavy workload.
The contract system doesn’t address the extra work the do just by being Maori.
“”We’re not just a midwife. We also kaikaranga on the marae. We’re ringawera. We’re kind of everywhere. So we’re doing a bit of everything. It’s almost like our childhood has trained up for this kind of work but what is does is take us away from our marae as well because we are providing care for our whanau,” Ms Pihema says.
Midwives want a treaty based system to support the 1300 midwives around the country and their communities.
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