Proposed Standards of Competence
Te Tatau o
te Whare Kahu | Midwifery Council (the Council) is pleased to share the revised Standards of Competence for kahu pōkai | midwives with the profession. We are seeking your views on the revised Standards which we believe are both contemporary and inspirational and reflect the reality of modern midwifery in Aotearoa.
Background
In 2020, the Council instigated Te Tatau o Te Whare Kahu ki Hine Pae Ora | the Aotearoa Midwifery Project. The purpose of the Project is to deliver a Tiriti-led, evidence-based review of the Scope of Practice, the Standards of Competence and the Standards of Approval of Pre-Registration Midwifery Education Programmes and Accreditation of Tertiary Education Organisations.
Midwives are the kaitiaki | guardians for whānau and the Council is charged with the responsibility of ensuring kahu pōkai are safe, competent practitioners. The Council is committed to embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi in midwifery practice. Te Tatau o Te Whare Kahu ki Hine Pae Ora is guiding the way for us to transform our shared future.
The revised Scope of Practice was put out for two rounds of consultation and was Gazetted in April – it will come into effect on 1 October 2024. The Standards of Competence have been reviewed to align with the new Scope of Practice and these are now ready to share for consultation.
Standards of Competence issued by Te Tatau o te Whare Kahu | Midwifery Council, describe the minimum standards of practice for the midwifery profession in Aotearoa | New Zealand. Kahu pōkai | midwives are expected to at least meet these standards but many will likely exceed them over time.
There are four proposed Standards of Competence:
Āhuru - The kahu pōkai | midwife creates conditions for whānau to feel safe across the pre-conceptual, pregnancy, birthing and postnatal continuum, including newborn care.
Mātauranga - The kahu pōkai | midwife applies comprehensive theoretical and scientific knowledge with the technical skills needed to provide effective and safe midwifery care, taking guidance from whānau to integrate their needs and aspirations.
Te Iho - The kahu pōkai | midwife implements safe systems and quality assurance processes to ensure the integrity of relational obligations to whānau.
Whenua - The kahu pōkai | midwife is constantly refreshing knowledge through evidence and reflective practice, and takes on new learnings with each whānau.
The proposed Standards contain five attributes which acknowledge a Te Ao Māori worldview:
Rangatiratanga – Leader by Example
Whakawhanaungatanga – Networker
Manaaki – Teacher and Advocate
Tiaki – Compassionate Carer
Atawhai – Reciprocal Learner
Performance
indicators describe the actions the kahu pōkai | midwife undertakes to show they are meeting the expected standard of competence, eg through reflective and reflexive practice, sharing of information, critical thinking and reasoning, decision making, and the application of knowledge, skills and values to practice. They require the kahu pōkai | midwife to examine and apply strategies to mitigate impact of own assumptions, biases and values when working alongside all whānau.
How to provide feedback
If you are providing feedback as an individual you can choose to complete a short, anonymised survey or you can choose to provide more substantive information using this submission template.
If you are providing feedback as an organisation or group, please use this template and email to [email protected] by 5pm 8th September 2024.
What we will do with your submission
We will review and consider all feedback and provide advice to Council Board. We will also publish a summary of the feedback on our website.
This consultation will close at 5pm on Sunday 8th September 2024.