Media release from New Zealand College of Midwives

Around 800 midwives, students and women will be in Wellington from August 24th for the 12th New Zealand College of Midwives conference.

The theme of the conference is integration, an important key to the success of our maternity system says NZCOM CEO Karen Guilliland.

"Midwives in New Zealand provide a fully integrated maternity service providing seamless care within and between the community, the home and the hospital," she says.

Ms Guilliland has just returned from The Hague, where she was invited to speak to some of the world's leading maternity and human rights experts about the New Zealand system which is held up worldwide as one of the best for women and their babies.

"Many countries aspire to implement a system like the midwifery led maternity service we have in New Zealand. In the UK for example, for many years, women who have wanted to be able to guarantee a one-to-one relationship with their midwife have usually had to pay an independent practitioner, at a cost of up to £4,500. In our country, it's free to have your own midwife and outcomes are among the best in the world," she says.

International Key note speaker at the NZCOM conference is Nester Moyo, the senior advisor with the International Confederation of Midwives. Ms Moyo will be discussing how midwives develop strong, supportive and positive relationships - with women, with one another and with others. She says, "midwives can change the way people think and through positive relationships midwives can establish a mandate for midwifery and improve the quality of care so that excellence becomes a habit."

An understanding of the consumer's perspective of the maternity services will be provided by a panel of consumer representatives and the Health and Disability Commissioner, Anthony Hill. 

Karen Guilliland says the conference will discuss the various attributes which contribute to a seamless maternity service - one which provides transparency, engagement and cultural safety that meets women's and families needs and which focuses on what helps families in their transition to becoming  parents.

"Relationships are the necessary foundation of any effective, professional maternity service and are based on collegiality, good communication and support," she says.

The conference programme will provide a broad choice of plenary and concurrent sessions which include panel discussion and debates. Midwives will explore and discuss the realities of practice, clinical issues and the latest evidence and research.

The 12th New Zealand College of Midwives conference at the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington 24 - 26 August 2012.                      www.midwife.org.nz/index.cfm/1,274,0,0,html/NZCOM-2012-National-Conference

Additional:                                                                                                            The New Zealand College of Midwives
The New Zealand College of Midwives (the NZCOM) is the professional organisation and recognised voice for midwives and student midwives in New Zealand. (see www.midwife.org.nz).
The NZCOM represents more than 3100 members and works in partnership with maternity consumer groups such as Plunket, Parents Centre New Zealand, the Home Birth Association, La Leche League and individual women to ensure high quality maternity services in New Zealand.
The NZCOM sets and actively promotes high standards for midwifery practice and assists midwives to meet these standards through involvement in midwifery education and the Midwifery Standards Review process.
The NZCOM, in consultation with its' membership, has developed the Philosophy, Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice and Consensus Statements that guide the professional activities of midwifery practitioners. The NZCOM also provides Resolution Committees for consumers who have a complaint about their midwife's practice.
The NZCOM represents midwifery and women's health interests to government, health organisations, consumer groups and the general public. The NZCOM also represents New Zealand on the International Confederation of Midwives and is currently the representative for the midwife association members in the Asia Pacific Region.
The New Zealand College of Midwives is the only professional membership body specifically for NZ registered midwives. The regulatory body is the Midwifery Council www.midwiferycouncil.health.nz and is responsible for the protection of the health and safety of women and babies during the childbirth process by providing mechanisms to ensure that midwives are competent and fit to practise midwifery. The HPCAA (The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act) provides this regulatory framework.

The NZCOM promotes midwifery standards of practice and ongoing education courses for Midwives once they are registered. It represents and advocates for midwifery and women's health interests to government, health organisations, consumer groups and the general public.

Live births down in the March 2012 year
There were 60,860 live births registered in New Zealand in the year ended March 2012, down 2,323 from the March 2011 year. This is the lowest number of births since 2007, when 60,471 births were registered.
In part, annual fluctuations in births, reflect changes in the size and age of the population, the age at which women have children, and the number of children they have. In turn, the number of births influences the future size and age of the population.

The highest number of births ever recorded in any March year was 65,803, in 1962. At that time, New Zealand's population was just 2.5 million, compared with 4.4 million in 2012.

Additional information re: Midwives and Midwifery in NZ
•    Midwives are highly educated health professionals with strong and effective accountability frameworks supporting practice.

•    With the support, information and knowledge Midwives share with women, a newborn baby has the best possible start in life.
 
12th New Zealand College of Midwives Conference - 2012                  At the Michael Fowler Centre

Programme - Day One
FRIDAY 24 AUGUST - The foundations of integration: Collegiality, communication and support

0700     Registration Desk opens. Pre session tea and coffee available.
0900    Powhiri and Conference Opening: Tony Ryall, Minister of Health
1030    Morning Tea
1100    Keynote Address: Developing strong, supportive relationships: Nester T. Moyo
1140     Concurrent Sessions A
A1    Evaluating new sleeping options for New Zealand babies - Sally Baddock, David Tipene-Leach, Agneline Tangiora, Sheila Williams, Barry Taylor
A2    On time - Linking samples and treatment for best outcomes - Joan Carll, Dianne Webster, Diane Casey, Sian Burgess
A3     A group approach to mentoring new midwives - Sue Lennox
A4    A safe sleep co-ordinator's role - a first for New Zealand - Sue Davey
A5    Passion for continuity of care. The intertwining of primary and secondary care - Nicky Snedden
A6    Co-operation, collaboration and communities of practice - Carolyn McIntosh
A7    The town midwife and the country midwife - Korina Vaughn and Cathryn Knox
1230     Concurrent Sessions B
B1    E Moe Mama, maternal sleep and health in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Preliminary fi ndings of large scale perinatal sleep study - Bronwyn Sweeney and Leigh Signal
B2    Unnecessary infant genital reassignment surgery: Dignity - Diversity - Choice - Jeanie Douché and Mani Mitchell
B3     The geographies of birth - Pauline Dawson
B4    From little things big things grow: Growing breastfeeding support in communities through The Big Latch On - Isis McKay and Nicola Macdonald
B5    Learning midwifery face to face or via the screen, does it impact on student engagement? - Tania Milne and Joan Skinner
B6     The work-life balance tool and other recommendations - Heather Donald, Liz Smythe, Judith McAra-Couper
B7    Warm babies, warm homes: A collaborative approach to addressing a health issue in practice in the hospital, community and the home- Maureen Hammond, Gina Woodward, Ludmilla Vlassoff-Smith
1310    Lunch
1410     Joan Donley Memorial Address: An autonomous profession meeting the needs of women. Are we achieving Joan's vision? - Sally Pairman
1450    Concurrent Sessions C
C1    Sustainable Lead Maternity Care (LMC) midwifery practice: What sustains LMC midwives in practice in New Zealand - Judith McAra-Couper and Andrea Gilkison
C2    Exploring health professionals' perception of best practice for women presenting with threatened miscarriage - Debra Betts
C3    Weight and height and their potential impact on MSS1 results - Emma Jeffs
C4    The Pohutukawa Journey: Quality initiatives to improve service delivery following perinatal loss: Christina Cuncarr, Gail Austin, Anne Chapman
C5    What influences women's decision-making regarding their planned place for birth? - Celia Grigg
C6    Antenatal milk expression by women with diabetes: Changing practice at C&CDHB - Maria Hakaraia and Penny Wyatt
C7    Building a local midwifery workforce: A blended model of midwifery education at Otago Polytechnic - Jean Patterson, Sally Pairman, Christine Griffi ths, Suzanne Miller, Sally Baddock, Rae Hickey
1530    Afternoon Tea
1600     Midwifery Panel Discussion: A day in the life of a hospital midwife
1700     Midwifery Student Presentations
1730    Welcome Reception amongst the Trade Exhibition, including poster session
Programme - Day Two
SATURDAY 25 AUGUST - Working with women: The New Zealand context of maternity
0800    Registration Desk opens. Pre session tea and coffee available.
0900    Health and Disability Commissioner: Interdisciplinary working: Anthony Hill, Health and Disabilities Commissioner
0940    Consumer Panel Discussion: What constitutes excellent postnatal care from the woman's/families perspectives?
1030    Morning Tea
1100    Using IT systems to integrate midwifery practice and involve women in maternity care planning: Chris Hendry
1140    Concurrent Sessions D
D1     The emotional journey of labour: Blending an understanding of women's emotions with neuroscience for physiological birth - Lesley Dixon
D2     The Jewel in the Crown: Small tutorial groups the hub of the midwifery programme - Mary Kensington, Rea Daellenbach, Lorna Davies
D3    Maintaining competence in midwifery practice - Susan Calvert
D4    Changing the story of homebirth - Kass Ozturk and Jo Walton
D5    Waikato Hospital neonatal outcomes: Have they been improved by introduction of a standardised newly born resuscitation programme? - Janet Black
D6     The advantages and challenges of using a group session model to engage high priority groups in antenatal education and care - Diana Murray, Louise Banga, Annette Hobbs-Tuitea
D7    Midwives and immunisation - beliefs, information and professional development: An exploratory study - Fiona Hermann
1230    Concurrent Sessions E
E1    The value and importance of involving fathers in maternity care - Dave Owens
E2     Gaining midwifery practice wisdom from a narrative-centred curriculum - Andrea Gilkison, Lynne Giddings, Liz Smythe
E3    Enhanced smoking cessation support in the context of LMC midwifery practice - Janaya Anisy, Rose Barker, Kate Nicoll
E4    Implementing the maternity quality and safety programme across a District Health Board - Lisa McKechie and Lesa Freeman
E5    Cutting Down: Addressing the caesarean section rate through educational media - Cheryl Benn and Leona Dann
E6    Midwives working with women: optimising placental birth-optimising birth? - Jane Stojanovic
E7    Stay calm and carry on: Participatory action research (PAR), as a 'slow' research approach - Lorna Davies
1310    Lunch
1410    Practice Panel Discussion: Organisational frameworks that impact on midwifery autonomy
1530    Afternoon Tea
1600    Debate: Does continuity of care matter more than the woman's conditions?
1700    Nga Maia
1730    Close of Day Two
1900    Conference Dinner
 
Programme - Day Three
SUNDAY 26 AUGUST - Midwives working globally - the New Zealand contribution to global midwifery
0800    Registration Desk opens. Pre session tea and coffee available.
0900     Global advances in the understanding of breastfeeding: Carol Bartle
0940    Panel Discussion: ICM and the New Zealand contribution
1030    Morning Tea
1100    Panel Discussion: Global issues affecting maternal well-being
1150    Concurrent Sessions F
F1    Normal birth and maternal mortality:Tensions and challenges within developing countries in relation to MDG5 - Joan Skinner
F2    Our Sri Lankan experience: The conflict between cultural safety and best practice: Rebecca Duff, Megan Grimwood, Jan Gomez, Alexis Fletcher
F3    How do you work with them? Midwives experiences of working with women who use illicit drugs - Maureen Miles, Karen Francis, Ysanne Chapman
F4     Exploring women's experiences of eating during pregnancy - H Paterson, GJ Treharne, EJC Hay Smith
F5     The Maternity Manifesto: Better Beginnings - Denise Hynd
F6     Disruption of sacredness at birth: A clash of cultures - Susan Crowther
F7     Tiakitanga, Hapaitanga, Tautokotange i Te Whangai U - Midwives working with women to protect, promote and support breastfeeding - Raeleen de Joux
1230    Lunch
1330     Keynote Address: Observations and analysis of the ways midwives work internationally. Their achievements and the challenges we face moving to 2015: Nester T. Moyo
1410    NZCOM CEO Address - Karen Guilliland
1445-1530     Closing Ceremony
• NZCOM President Address - Ann Yates
• Introduction to new President - Sue Lennox