Meet New Zealand Women and Their Midwives in Video Vignettes

5 May: International Day of the Midwife

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

Meet New Zealand Women and Their Midwives in Video Vignettes

“Absolutely amazing” and “I can’t wait until they are released.”

Comments from New Zealand College of Midwives members who recently saw two new videos which are being released tomorrow to celebrate International Day of the Midwife.

The videos, shot by award winning cinematographer and director Peter Young, show New Zealand midwives at work in real life situations, working alongside women and their families during their pregnancy, birth and with their newborns.

College Chief Executive, Karen Guilliland, says the videos portray the close relationship a midwife has with a woman and how important that partnership is not only to birth but also to the pregnancy and post natal periods.

“International Day of the Midwife is the perfect day to release these videos, to celebrate the unsung heroines, our midwives, who know they have been successful when the woman they are working alongside feels she has safely achieved control over her birth experience under her own strength.

Mrs Guilliland says there’s so much information around that is either incorrect, sensationalised or irrelevant when it comes to maternity, including knowledge on what women’s bodies are capable of. “We see and hear so little about the normality of birth, the power of women to give birth and the expertise and skill used every day to support women to reach their full potential by the highly qualified health professionals who are our midwives. I hope everyone will go to the website, watch the videos, share the link and be proud of what our world leading maternity system offers women and their babies in New Zealand,” she says.

The videos will be uploaded to the College website tomorrow morning https://www.midwife.org.nz/latest-news/celebrating-international-midwives-day/

The global theme of International Day of the Midwife for 2016 is 'Women and Newborns: The Heart of Midwifery'.

New Zealand’s midwifery led ‘partnership” maternity model puts women and newborns at the heart of the care. Continuity of midwifery throughout the whole maternity journey enables the building of a relationship that informs and provides strength to the woman’s own decision making. This gives women and their families the confidence for the challenges of parenthood. The global theme fits perfectly with the New Zealand midwifery-led model.

ENDS

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