Midwife Judy moved to New Zealand

Judy Graham and her husband Mark made the decision to emigrate from the UK before knowing where exactly they’d like to end up. Their choices were the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. After attending two Opportunities Expos over a two year period, the couple decided on New Zealand.

“Because I’m a trained midwife, we were fast-tracked. It was like I had a golden ticket. Our whole family was fast-tracked, in fact, because New Zealand really wants midwives,” remembers Judy. “The second time round, we knew what we wanted and were more prepared. I interviewed with Counties Manukau District Health Board at the expo,” Judy says.

The plan was for the couple to rent their home in the UK and trial life in New Zealand for a year. However, after about two days, Mark had decided he had no intention of going back. “We came in June, and by October we were applying for permanent residency,” recalls Judy.

Judy has now been working as a midwife in New Zealand for three years, and she is well aware of the continuing shortage of skilled health workers, something the recession has not eased. “There is definitely still a shortage of midwives,” she said. “Depending on where you’re based, the shortage can be more severe. There’s a huge shortage in south Auckland.”

Judy’s skills were easily transferable to New Zealand; however, she still had to meet specific NZ nursing and midwifery standards expected of every foreign-trained nurse or midwife working in New Zealand. “On your English training, you can practice on an interim certificate, but that’s only valid for 18 months,” she explains. “Within that time there are several education requirements that must be met, such as a course on the Treaty of Waitangi and a prescribing course. All midwives prescribe here; it’s essential.”

Course modules are done via correspondence, so conceivably they could be started before a midwife or nurse left his or her home country. In Judy’s case, however, she completed the courses while working full time in New Zealand. The New Zealand health employer is responsible to reimburse the employee for costs associated with the courses.

As of August 2009, Judy has worked as an independent midwife, a decision she made to enable a better work-life balance. It’s a move seen by many midwives. Even as an independent midwife, Judy will continue to be paid directly from the Ministry of Health. All New Zealand residents and citizens are covered by the Ministry of Health for their maternity care.

While Judy acknowledges things were challenging at the start, she is thrilled with the life she now leads with Mark and Jorja in New Zealand. “We had to rely on each other at the beginning, but we’ve built up a strong network of friends and neighbours now,” she says. “Now that we’ve had relatives over, they understand why we did it.”