Maternity Nurses and Midwives

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XVII, Issue 1, 1 January 1928, Page 7

Maternity Nurses and Midwives

The Nurses' and Midwives' Registration Board recently issued instructions altering the course of training for the respective qualifications of maternity nurse and midwife. In addition to raising the standard of training for the maternity nurse qualification, which was first introduced by the 1925 legislation, a further important provision is made whereby the period of training for general trained nurses who desire to become midwives has been altered to provide a straight out course of eight months without the necessity of an examination at the end of four months' training, as at present. This training, of course, must be taken at an institution approved as a training school for midwives. The course of training provided for a general trained nurse who desires to qualify as a maternity nurse is now "six months" (the period which, as a matter of fact, all but one or two of the larger schools have already found necessary) instead of, as formerly prescribed by the Regulations, "not less than four months." It is m regard to these two alterations that misunderstanding has apparently arisen. Interviewed recently, on the matter, Dr. Valintine, Director-General of Health, made the following statement which is of special interest to all general trained nurses who contemplate taking up the further training. "A general trained nurse proceeding for her midwifery certificate will, if she enters a training school for midwives, require only eight months' training and to pass only one examination. If she enters a training school for maternity nurses only, she must first take the six months' course there and pass the maternity examination, and then take a further four months at a midwifery training school before sitting for her midwifery training examination. On the face of it, it would appear that a considerable advantage accrues to the

general trained nurse who can assure her full course at a midwifery training school, and that the hospitals, recognised as training schools for maternity nurses only, will therefore have relatively a much smaller number of applicants from whom to select their trainees. It is not, however, widely enough known that the maternity nurse training schools offer an advantage m the matter of salary during training which the midwifery training schools m most cases do not. A very important point moreover is that with the alterations m the course of training, and the definite stipulations now laid down as to the amount of practical work to be done, the maternity nurse qualification is a very high one. In only one respect, viz., the number of cases of labour to be conducted, does it fall short of the old syllabus for midwives as m existence prior to 1926 while m all other respects it provides a better and more complete course of training. It should be mentioned, however, that Section 16 of the Nurses' and Midwives' Registration Act, 1925, still impose^ a restriction upon maternity nurses, except m emergency cases, attending cases without a doctor. This, however, is believed to be merely a nominal restriction as the vast majority of women prefer to engage a doctor for the confinement. Generally, therefore, it would seem that a falling-off m the number of applicants for training as maternity nurses is due mainly to the misunderstanding as to the true value of this qualification. It is intended to be the recognised qualification for those engaged m private nursing. The higher midwifery qualification on the other hand is intended mainly for those nurses who wish to qualify for responsible teaching posts m maternity hospitals or to become eligible to undertake the management of private maternity hospitals or to hold positions as district nurses.