Ōamaru midwives are hoping for local support in their battle to gain equitable pay, with a community afternoon at Takaro Park on Sunday (March 26).

The aim of the afternoon was to raise awareness for the plight of midwives, and show how the community valued them, both locally and nationally, Ōamaru Maternity Ward manager Tina Whyte said.

“Our aim is to show we are not invisible.”

Midwives were feeling let down by Te Whatu Ora and the Government, “not coming to the table to discuss equitable pay for employed midwives”, she said. 

In the past year, 200 New Zealand midwives had moved to other countries (mostly Australia) where pay and work conditions are much better.

While Ōamaru Maternity Centre is fully staffed, this had happened just recently, and there was high staff turnover, Tina said.

“Being a small team, even one loss is significant.

“Being rural, people come to Ōamaru from other places around the country to work for a few years then move on. We struggle to get locums at times to cover these gaps and provide cover for leave for our staff as there is so much work around the country and not enough midwives to fill the gaps.”

The problem was a nationwide one, and that was what the afternoon was to raise awareness for, she said.

“There are approximately 2000 midwives employed in New Zealand, and there is around a 30% vacancy rate. Which means nationally, we need another 600 midwives to be well staffed.”

The afternoon will include a free bouncy castle, plenty of food options and a coffee van, as well as giveaways from local supporters. It will run from 1pm-3pm.

“Our aim is to get some publicity around equity for midwives . . . while sending Te Whatu Ora the message that while we are a small workforce, we are invaluable to our communities.

“[Communities] need us to empower, guide and support them through an amazing life changing part of their whanau journey, and sadly midwives are already stretched so thin,” she said. 

Te Whatu Ora needed to step up and do whatever it could to keep midwives in the country, Tina said.

“Unfortunately, so far, they have refused to come to any agreement of negotiation with our union (Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service) after five years of pursuing pay equity, along with our valued nurse colleagues who have recently been offered an interim pay agreement, which they too deserve, and their union (New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation) has fought hard for.” 

Nurses in maternity now earned $11,000 more than the midwives they report to, she said.