About Us
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Carey Aburn
|
Hi,
I am currently returning to practise midwifery in
the Coromandel area, working together with Sheryl
Wright. I've had the last four years off, pursuing
other interests, and am returning to midwifery to
assist women and families living in this rural /
remote area.
My
experience includes being a mother, and an enrolled
nurse, when I was younger, working on the children's
ward at Wellington Hospital, and on the Maternity
Ward at Palmerston North Hospital. I trained as a
Midwife at AUT in Auckland, graduating in 2000 with
a Bachelor of Health Science Midwifery. Since then I
have worked as a core midwife at North Shore
Hospital, on the KYM Team, then as a self employed
LMC case loading midwife on the North Shore, then as
a core Midwife on Delivery Suite at Auckland City
Hospital, and then as a self employed LMC case
loading midwife in Central Auckland.
I
am friendly and approachable and enjoy meeting women
and families. I look forward to joining you on your
journey.
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Sheryl Wright
|
Hi.
After 15+ years working as a community midwife
in the rural and remote rural areas of the North
Waikato I have recently moved to the Coromandel
and am excited to be continuing my passion
for rural primary midwifery and working together
with Carey Aburn.
I'm a proud Mum (of three) and recently became a 'Grammy' for the
second time. Experiencing the joys (and demands!)
of pregnancy, birth and becoming a mum inspired
me to become a midwife and I enjoy supporting
women and families during this special time.
After many years working with a
huge variety of women I still believe that the secret to achieving
a positive pregnancy and birthing experience is having the right attitude and
excellent support.
I am currently the
Chairperson representing the Waikato region on
the NZ College of Midwives National Board and
enjoy the chance to share my experience and
rural viewpoint at a national level. In my spare time you’ll find me
spending time with my family, with my head in a book, out in the
garden, or planning my next travel adventure!
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Our Services
Moehau Midwives cover the
upper and western side of the Coromandel peninsula from Port
Jackson to Waiomu Bay, including Colville & Coromandel Town. We
specialise in providing community primary care and offer
friendly, supportive, flexible and professional care
including:
-
Free Pregnancy Testing
-
Antenatal care
including referrals for pregnancy testing (such as blood
tests & ultrasounds) and information / resources to help
you make a birth plan
-
Labour and birth care
for low risk women at either the Thames Birthing Unit or
at home. For women who chose to birth
outside of the region or who need to birth in at a
hospital due to their more complex needs in consultation
with you we will refer you to your choice of provider.
-
Postnatal care in your
own home (or other location at your request) for one
month after the birth
-
Prescriptions relating
to the pregnancy and post-natal period, including some
contraception options
-
Referral to your
chosen Well Child / Tamariki Ora Provider / GP and
other health care practitioners, medical specialists and
support agencies if / when required
All of our midwifery
services are fully funded by the Ministry of Health (if
you are a NZ citizen, resident or have a work visa).
However during your pregnancy you may need to pay for
additional services such as ultrasound scans,
prescription part charges, childbirth education classes
and optional tests at private laboratories.
Our Philosophy
of Care
-
We believe that
pregnancy is a normal and special part of a woman’s
life and that most woman can and will give birth
without complications or interventions.
-
We acknowledge
that research shows outcomes improve when women
birth in an environment that supports and protects
normal birth so we encourage low-risk women to plan
to birth either at home or in a primary maternity
unit.
-
We believe that in
a usual progression of pregnancy and birth we have a
responsibility not to interfere with the
physiological (natural) process unless there is a
medical indication.
-
We believe that
with the right support most women experiencing a
normal labour are able to give birth without the use
of pharmaceutical drugs but we will discuss all the
options that are available should you require these
or if your labour is abnormal or complicated.
-
We have the skills
required to undertake all aspects of primary
midwifery care, including the management of
emergency situations, however if during your
pregnancy or birth you require additional medical
care we will arrange this for you.
-
We are
pro-breastfeeding, because of the many benefits for
both mother and baby, and will support you in
beginning your breastfeeding relationship. However
if for some reason this is not the right choice for
you or your baby then we can discuss your options
and support you with alternatives.
-
We believe that
midwives and women should work in partnership, with
women as active informed consenting participants in
their care planning. We base our practice on
research and the principles of informed choice and
consent and will assist you in your decision-making
with information and education.
-
We
will respect and support your decisions, however
there are of course limits to safe practice and as
responsible care providers we will advise you if
these limits are reached.
How do
Moehau Midwives work together?
We work
closely together sharing a caseload
as this allows our clients the chance to get to know
us both really well while still providing the
recommended midwifery-led continuing of care that
ensures the best possible experience and outcomes
for you, your baby and family.
At most times we
have one midwife "on call" and the other "off-call".
The midwife who is
"on-call" will carry our mobile phone and provide
all the midwifery care. To provide
optimal continuity of care our midwives share a
computer system which allows us to access our
client's full maternity records whenever required.
As midwives our
time "off-call" is very important as when we are
"on-call" we can often work long unpredictable hours
so regular time off to rest and recuperate is
essential not only for our own health and wellbeing
but also to ensure that we can do our best for you
and your baby when we are "on call".
Time "off-call" also allows us to attending meetings
/ study days for our required continuing education
ensuring our clinical and professional skills are
always up to date. We ask our clients to
please respect our own self-care and understand that
we have lives and families outside of our work, just
like you do.
Most of our time
“off-call” is planned in advance but at times we
might need to go “off-call” unexpectedly, if for
example we are fatigued after a long birth, are
unwell, or have a family commitment or emergency.
At these times we may be supported by other midwives from the region or locum
midwives to ensure we can always
offer you the safest possible care.
When will I see
a midwife?
Regular antenatal visits are a very important part
of your care. Your partner / family / support people
are always welcome and encouraged to be part of your
visits. The schedule of visits will be negotiated
with you but typically we plan our visits based on
the recommended schedule of NICE (National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence) as
follows: booking visit
(ideally by 10 weeks), 16 weeks, 24 weeks, 28 weeks, 31 weeks, 34 weeks, 36 weeks, 38 weeks, 39 weeks, 40 weeks
and then as needed until your baby is born.
Once your baby
is born we will visit you in your home (or other
location at your request) for one month (minimum
of five home visits).
As you can
imagine the schedule of a rural midwife can be
unpredictable due to the travel distances and
conditions and the difficulty of planning
appointments around baby’s births! Due to this
there will be times when your midwife is running
a little early or late, or may need to
reschedule your appointment. We will make
every effort to keep you informed if we cannot
make an appointment (to assist with this
please ensure we can always contact you by
letting us know if you change your phone numbers
or address).
If you are not able to keep your appointment
please contact us well in advance and we will do
our best to arrange a new date and time. Please
be aware that if you do not cancel and then miss
an appointment you may have to wait for our next
clinic day to see us. We are also required to
document in your notes that you ‘did not attend’
a booked appointment as research shows that
non-attendance or under-attendance for pregnancy
care carries a substantially elevated risk of
severe adverse pregnancy outcomes which puts
yourself, your baby and us as midwives at risk.
If appointments are frequently missed we will
ask you to make other arrangements for your
on-going maternity care.
Sadly many
health professionals, including community
midwives, are increasingly being subjected to
incidents of intimidation, threatening and
abusive behaviour from both clients and support
people. There is never an excuse for
aggressive bad behaviour. We understand that
stress, anxiety, grief and fear can cause people
to act in a way they wouldn’t normally. However
all forms of violence (both words and actions)
will not be tolerated and depending on the level
of violence we will withdraw from your care and
the Police may be involved.
Please also
ensure that when we visit you at home that your
home is a safe environment for us. This includes
making sure that any animals are tied up.
What happens
if my pregnancy or birth becomes complicated?
As community midwives, we specialise in
providing maternity care within the "primary”
(normal) scope of practice. Although we all hope
everything goes smoothly for you a vital part of
our role is to recognise when aspects of your
pregnancy, labour, birth or postnatal care may
have deviated from normal. If this occurs, in
consultation with you, we will arrange a (free)
referral to the medical / obstetric team at the
hospital.
If you then require ongoing “secondary” care
(also known as “complex” or “high risk” care)
then after discussing this with you and the
hospital team it will be agreed who is best to
now provide your maternity care. For minor
concerns your midwife is likely to remain your
main carer, working together with the hospital
team. However if your needs are more
complex then responsibility for your care will
likely be transferred to the hospital team.
Your midwife will then take on the role of
providing support and advocacy working closely
with the hospital team and / or remaining in
regular contact with yourself and the hospital team
so she can maintain your continuity of care.
All midwives are trained to provide emergency
care should this become necessary.
How do I
contact Moehau Midwives?
New Clients
We look forward
to hearing from potential new clients.
Please be aware that we have a maximum number of
clients we can safely care for each month so
it is recommended that you contact us as soon as
possible in your pregnancy and if we have availability we will
arrange an appointment to meet and discuss our
services.
If phoning
please contact us during business hours (Monday to Friday: 9am -
5pm) on (022) 500 1310 or
send us an email
Existing
Clients
Please remember
that as midwives we are "on-call" 24/7 for EMERGENCIES ONLY. We
are NOT on call 24/7 to answer non-urgent
matters e.g. change of
appointments, non-urgent questions.
Emergencies / Urgent Contacts:
If you need
to contact us URGENTLY (e.g. You are
concerned about you or your baby’s
well-being or you are in labour) please
always PHONE us on (022) 5001310 and your call will be received
by the midwife who is "on-call".
If your call is answered by
voicemail (which can happen if we are on
another call, busy with another client or in
areas with poor mobile phone coverage)
please leave a message and we will
ring
you back as soon as we can.
If you do not receive a reply
within 5 – 10 minutes please try again.
Unfortunately the mobile
phone network in the rural Coromandel is
poor and subject to weather conditions so at
times you may have more success calling us
using apps that use Wi-Fi to send the call
(e.g.
WhatsApp)
It is very
important that you do not text with urgent
queries or medical questions as there are frequently long delays
in text messages being received and
medical advice can’t be given via text due
to the risk of misunderstandings.
If you are
feeling unwell and it is NOT pregnancy
related please see your doctor or after
hours medical clinic.
If you are unsure as to what an emergency is
please discuss this with your midwife.
Non-Urgent Contacts:
Before
contacting us please consider if your
question or request could wait until your
next appointment? If not please
remember that we also have families and
personal lives outside of midwifery and
restrict all non-urgent contacts to within
business hours e.g. Monday to Friday: 9am -
5pm.
If you have
a lingering problem please contact us during
normal office hours and don’t wait until
10pm on a Saturday night to tell us of a
problem which has been bothering you for
several days.
Please remember
it is YOUR responsibility to ensure you are
always able to contact us. This means making
sure you always have enough money on your phone
to call us. It is not acceptable to text us
asking us to phone you back.
