Highland Queen

Hi Fran I have recently secured a job in Hastings as a midwife but will probably live closer to Napier. Will be moving out in October this year. Lots of organising to do now. There's a huge choice of schools, from privat, state, single sex, intermediate, you name it.....! We found that they are scored by decile ratings 1 - 10. 10 being the best. Exchange rate not so good at the moment so this will greatly affect our purchasing power on property. We seemed to be talking about this for so long, now all of a sudden things are snowballing at an incredible rate. So be prepared. Choosing an area has been really difficult and I hope we have made the right choice with Napier!! Anyone from this area, it'd be great to hear from you. Will get in touch once in NZ so any help I can give before then or after, only too glad to help. Caroline :) :balloons:

hi susan, seems to be a lot of us planning to move from uk to nz. i'm a midwife here in scotland and wanted to go to nz for years, couldn't persuade my hubby. then we got the chance to go over last year and that was it. everyone was hooked even the kids. i'm in the process of sorting out my registration at the moment. midwifery council have a lot of criterea to meet, expensive too. (approx. £450-£500) we were hoping to have things sorted out so we could go sometime between august & october this year. bit worrying to hear about time of registration process though. have you been able to secure a job yet? what about relocation packages from the health boards is there such a thing in nz? have you heard? good luck with all your plans. good to know so many others are in the same position it's great to get first hand info & advice. also encouragement to keep going when it looks like things will never happen. we're hoping to go to hawkes bay area. hope there'll be jobs in that area. caroline :roll

Thanks IP. Hadn't thought of Palmerston North. Had a recommendation to stay clear by a mw working in Bay of Plenty. Said pay wasn't good there and conditions not too hot. But maybe things have changed and conditions are now better!! Saying that mw from the 'Midwifery Today' forum said she wouldn't work as a mw in Hastings (lets just say she was less than complimentary about the docs and there attitudes towards the mw's!!) Anyway hope to get registration stuff away within next few weeks. (Senior Midwife on hols, and need her to sign verification of clinical skills and practice). Then lets hope we can really get a move on with everything.It's so frustrating once you've made up your mind to take that life changining step, you just want to get on a plane and start your new life. But as they say , patience is a virtue and all good things come to those who wait!! Thanks again Caroline :cheers: :)

:) Hi Louise, Am a midwife in Inverness and am going through the process of registration etc. to move to NZ with my family, hopefully by October this year. Nurse registration isn't too much of a problem and costs about £90.00. Go to the NZ nusing council, you'll get all the info you need there re. forms etc. You can down load from site. ( Midwifery registration is with the NZ midwifery council, more complicated (portfolio, skills competency verification and prescribing course to do. Also cost by the time you're able to practice, approx. £450-£500) No, they don't get paid any more than the nurses apparantly) Immigration seems to be a bit of a catch 22 at the moment. We're going for residency (Go to the NZ immigration site for info on different methods of entry) Do you have family over there? I need a job offer to get residency, to get a job I need to have NZ registration, a job will be held, usually for a max. of 3 mths. so can't apply until registration comes through. So am at present working hard to get registration sorted out. After that it shouldn't be too bad. Am working with a Nursing Agency from NZ who have been very helpful. They will organise interviews etc. when I'm ready. As far as the age question goes, 39 is not a problem. I'm 39 this year and I still have more than enough points to apply for residency. Also most if not all of the nursing/medical specialities are sought after. Pay is not as good as here in UK (yes I know, it's not that great here either) but your dollar will buy you more for your money and the way of life is sooo... much better. People are fantastic too. We can't wait to get there. Had the chance to visit last year and all fell in love with it. Don't think you would be disappointed!! Good Luck. Caroline :) :)

Hi, Thanks for the reply. As far as I can work out I don't need to do any extra hours before practicing. However my scope of practice will be limited for a time until I fulfil some of the midwifery council requirements. i.e. midwifery prescribing course, NZ maternity system, midwifery partnership, Treaty of Waitangi & cultutal Safety. These need to be done within 18 months of registration. Won't be able to take on a LMC post until these are done. So I'll have lots to keep me busy. Yes I have been on the Health Board sites thanks. Only thing is they don't tell you if they are a good or bad place to work. That really would need to come from someone that's actually worked there. I'm sure NZ is the same as everywhere else & some places will be better to work in than others!!Thanks again, Caroline -x-

Hi, am hoping to move to NZ this year. Had been hoping for August but may well be October. Am married with 2 kids (11 & 7 ). Have been a midwife for 13 years now and have wanted to come to NZ for about 10 yrs now. Have finally convinced the hubby (though it didn't take much convincing once we'd been there!). Have been working on getting over there since we came back last year. Long drawn out process. Midwifery registration alot more complicated AND more expensive than nursing registration. Anyone know why. Is it because midwives work more independantly in NZ? Anyway, suggestions how to make this process easier would be greatfully received. Have also got the Prescribing course from Wellington, to be started as soon as I've sent my registration stuff away!! It's never ending. First choice at the moment is Hawkes Bay area, 2nd is Marlbourgh so anyone know about working in these two areas, it'd be great to get some more info. working, schooling, areas NOT to live in etc. etc. We're pretty flexible though about choice of location as long it's not too far south. Coming from the Highlands of Scotland we're keen to get away from the long cold , wet winters and short summers. As beautiful as it may be!! Heard that there's going to be a pay increase for nurses and midwives. Is this so? Hope ther's someone out there that can help, Thanks Caroline :)

Hi there. I work in a teaching hospital in Inverness, Scotland. We certainly do not do routine blood sugars on all babies. If a baby is at term, good weight, and healthy with no risk factors, such as maternal diabetes why interfere? As long as you're observing the baby for any signs of hypoglycaemia, poor feeding etc. there really is no need to do this routinely. Why give a new mum something else to worry about !! Anyway I'm sure I have some literature somewhere about this. Will let you know when I get it. Good luck with the doctors. Sometimes old habits die hard!!