Prepare for change of course

In New Zealand midwives are kept in order by the New Zealand Midwifery Council. They make sure we are all good little souls who keep up their skills and don't do anything naughty. If you are a nurse you only need to keep up your skills in your chosen area e.g. orthopedics but there is nothing stopping you becoming a paeds nurse if you can get a job or you can carry on working in your happy little niche.  But midwives are required to work across the spectrum - antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal, up skill with courses to a certain number of points, do 3 yearly intensive workshops, annual CPR for adults and neonates and be reviewed either annually or biannually depending on where they work.


Due to the kind effects of MS I am easily fatigued (try doing a 12 hour shift or a 16 hour labour!) and so run the risk of not making good clinical decisions, I lurch around which wouldn't inspire much faith in someone in labour and I can't handle heat - delivery rooms often sit around 26 degrees.  So I can only practice in certain areas of midwifery. Simple then to give me a practicing certificate limiting me to antenatal and postnatal you would think but no!  If you can't do all areas you can't be a midwife. Apparently if you don't do deliveries regularly you will forget how to help deliver a baby should one present itself in front of you while out shopping! Forget that all you do is guide and encourage most of the time and that would certainly be the case in the centre of Sylvia Park (large shopping centre).  I contacted the College of Midwives and they said yes of course we can help you. All you have to do is form a plan to work in all three areas over the next 3 years.  Excuse me but that differs from what I currently do how? Oh and tell your colleagues so they don't think you're drunk or drugged!

So it looks like after 15 years I will be leaving the field of midwifery and trying to find another career path that accepts women who on occasion do Quasimodo impersonations and appreciate a nice lie down on occasion. Politics maybe? There's a research project manager position advertised at Auckland Hospital - part-time - so I may look into that despite that fact I have no real research background - you can but try.

Still waiting to hear if my application for DMDs has been approved. The approval timeline is supposed to be 10 working days. I may have to be a squeaky wheel again. I hate that and resent being put in a position to do it but I am my own advocate so squeak squeak squeak