How to find a Midwife

The Midwifery Council is the regulatory authority for midwives. Its function is to ensure that any person practising as a midwife meets the requirements for safe practise in this profession. It is not involved with the employment of midwives and it is not appropriate for the Council to direct women seeking maternity care to any particular midwife or group of midwives.

You can find a midwife by searching the Register of Midwives at this internet site (purple button to the right of this screen). The online Register can be searched by name if you know of a midwife, and will show if the midwife has a current practising certificate and other information such as her qualifications and any conditions on her practice. It can also be searched by town. This is a helpful feature for smaller areas but may not be so helpful in the case of larger cities. Please note that registration in New Zealand is for life. When looking for a midwife it is important to check that they hold a current practising certificate. This can be checked in the online copy of the Register.

The Register does not give contact details other than the town but if you locate a midwife of interest she/he should be readily found though the telephone White Pages, either the printed version or the Internet version - http://www.whitepages.co.nz. The Council's policy is to not give out personal details such as addresses and telephone numbers.

Some other methods of finding a midwife

Recommendation by a recent mother. This is a good method. Most new mothers would be happy to pass on the contact details for their midwife if she was happy with the maternity care she received.

Recommendation by your GP. If you confirm your pregnancy by way of a consultation with your GP you can discuss your options for lead maternity care. The Doctor should have contact details of midwives in the area.

The CCDHB Find a Midwife website (www.findamidwife.org.nz) and 0800FINDMW (0800 346 369).

Hutt Valley DHB link to maternity (www.huttvalleydhb.org.nz/news)

New Zealand College of Midwives. NZCOM is the professional association for midwives. It provides some help in finding a midwife. Go to this page on the internet http://www.findyourmidwife.co.nz/ or call the College on 03 377 2732.

Telephone 0800 MUM 2 BE (0800 686 223). The 0800 MUM 2 BE Maternity Consumer phone line is run by the Ministry of Health.  If you call this number and leave your details the Ministry will send you a list of midwives in your area.  Website http://www.health.govt.nz/yourhealth-topics/maternity/pregnancy/mum2be. 

The Yellow Pages. Many midwifery practices and individual midwives list in the Yellow Pages, either the printed version or the Internet version - http://www.yellowpages.co.nz .

In Wellington www.wellingtonmidwives.com is a good site with a number of options.  Similar sites for other regions can be found by going throught the NZCOM site.

Nga Maia. Nga Maia is a national organisation supporting Maori in pregnancy and childbirth. It lists contact details for a number of Maori midwives at its internet site http://www.ngamaia.co.nz/ .

Home Birth Aotearoa. Home Birth Aotearoa is a national organisation representing the many district home birth associations. Its internet site lists the contact details for a number of home birth midwives - http://www.homebirth.org.nz .

The Internet. Search under midwife in Google, SearchNZ, or another search engine and you will find a number of midwives and midwifery practices.

Local hospital maternity unit.  Your local maternity unit may be able to provide you with contact detail for midwives in your area.  DHB maternity units can also provide your maternity care but they will only take you on if you cannot find a Lead Maternity Care midwife.