Te Kaunihera | The Council

Ngarangi Pritchard
Upoko-takirua | Co-chair - Tangata Whenua

Dip Midwifery, Dip Nursing, RM, RN

Kakanui te maunga
Matariwa te punawai
Mataatua te waka
Te Ehutu te hapu
Te Kaha te marae
Te Whanau A Apanui, Ngatai Porou, Rongowhakaata oku iwi Ko Ngarangi Pritchard ahau

Appointed to the Council 2020. Have been a practicing midwife 27 years. Worked as an LMC in the Wellington area for 22 years. Now work in the women’s clinics Wellington Hospital as an antenatal clinic coordinator.

Kerry Adams
Upoko-takirua | Co-chair - Tangata Tiriti

Kerry was appointed to the Midwifery Council in December 2015. Kerry is currently a Principal Lecturer at the School of Midwifery at Otago Polytechnic where she teaches in both the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Kerry is a Doctoral Candidate at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) with her research interest in Midwifery Leadership. In the past, Kerry has been the Otago Regional Chair for New Zealand College of Midwives, an Expert Advisor for the Health and Disciplinary Commissioner, and a member of the Processional Conduct Committee for the Council. She has worked in all maternity settings both in Wellington and Dunedin. Kerry lives in Dunedin with her husband and two children.

Chris Mallon

Chris was appointed to the Council in December 2015 for a three year term. She is currently Chief Midwife at Counties Manukau Health. Chris has extensive experience as an LMC, a core midwife and in midwifery leadership. She has a particular interest in collaborative work environment and how services work together. Chris is based in Auckland.

Melanie Tarrant

Lay member Melanie Tarrant lives in Christchurch where she and her husband operate a New World supermarket. Melanie has had extensive experience of the maternity services, having 4 daughters aged between 10 and 3. Two other babies died un utero at 20 and 27 weeks and it was these experiences that led to Melanie becoming involved in SANDS. She set up a SANDS group for the Hokitika/Greymouth area and is a member of the National Board. Melanie has previously worked in education as an economics teacher.

Jude Cottrell

Jude has been a practicing lead maternity carer for nearly thirty years. Her key area of interest is natural birth and the dynamics that enable women to take responsibility for their choices. She worked as a midwifery educator for twelve years and the clinical director of physiological birth for three years at Auckland Hospital. Recently she has worked with The International Confederation of Midwives creating workshops and resources to address respect in maternity settings. Jude has appreciated the model of midwifery care in New Zealand and is also aware of the challenges that the 21st century brings. She is committed to bringing equity to the maternity setting and also realistic, and sustainable parameters so that our profession can thrive

Bea Leatham

Nei ahau he uri nā ngā kōpara a Rongomaitāpui. Ko Ngāti Porou te iwi, ko Te Whānau a Te Aopare te hapū, ko Paerauta te marae. Ko Beatrice Leatham ahau.

For the majority of my 22-year midwifery career I have been an LMC, caring predominately for Māori. I have also practiced as a CORE midwife, an educator, I hold a MHSc and am currently a DHSc candidate. Up until recently, I practiced in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) however have now moved home to Tūranganui ā Kiwa (Gisborne) where I returned to LMC practice. I strive to contribute to the wider context of the maternity sector, particularly within Māori midwifery.

Kiley Clark

Sue Kedgley

Lay member Sue Kedgley is a women’s advocate, author and former Green MP, with a long interest in women’s issues and health. She has had personal experience of midwifery, with the birth of her son in 1990, and a long interest in supporting independent midwifery in Aotearoa. Her book ‘Mum’s the Word, the History of Motherhood in New Zealand,’ looked at the history of midwifery in New Zealand, amongst other issues. A former Chair of Parliament’s Health Select Committee, she was on the Capital and Coast District Health Board for 9 years and has a good understanding of the importance of culturally safe and positive birthing experiences and of the challenges facing midwifery today. She lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara with her husband Denis Foot.