FROM BOTH SIDES
my coach my coaching Midwife Ali Woodhouse received invaluable tautoko (support) from clinical
Māori midwife Dani Gibbs works as a clinical coach at Christchurch
coach Dani Gibbs throughout her new graduate year at Christchurch
Women’s Hospital (CWH) and sheds light on what the recently
Women’s Hospital (CWH) and considers the role indispensable.
created role entails.
Ali attributes her interest in midwifery to growing up on a farm in
Dani applied for the new clinical coach role in 2021, excited by the idea
Aotearoa’s deep south, where lambing season provided her earliest
of creating something from scratch. “I really like teaching and I’ve always
experiences of birth attendance. But despite figuring out her path
enjoyed working with students,” she explains. “Having been both a core
relatively early, the road to midwifery registration has been a long and
midwife and an LMC recently, I felt like I could see where the gaps in
challenging one.
support were and how we could best retain our new staff.”
“I started on a pre-health pathway with the goal of becoming a midwife
The Ministry funds the 1.5 FTE role, which Dani (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe,
when I was 18 years old, but stepped away to raise
Ngāti Apa, Te Āti Awa ki Te Tau Ihu, Te Āti Awa ki
children,” she explains. “I had already adopted my
Taranaki) shares with colleague Catherine. Collectively,
eldest son and couldn’t maintain studying while
the pair has designed the role to be flexible, staggering
raising a baby. I went on to birth three biological sons, one of whom was a second trimester loss eight years ago - which delayed my midwifery journey further - and a foster daughter also joined our whānau permanently.” Over 20 years later, Ali stepped back on to the midwifery path, and this time, her five children - who are all Māori, with connections to Ngāpuhi and Ngai Tahu - would be her driving force. Her desire to honour their whakapapa as tāngata whenua is carried into her work as a midwife, where she aims to uphold equity through te Tiriti.
their start times so that support is on-hand for midwives from 8am-6.30pm, Monday-Friday. “I work my day around new graduate midwives, so I look up their rosters and catch them on shift to see what they might need support with. It might be clinical, for example if it’s the first time they’re attending a very pre-term birth, or if they need help with IV cannulation. At other times it’s answering questions about guidelines and policies. It’s not exclusive to new graduate midwives either; if a senior midwife wants support refreshing perineal suturing skills, that’s also part of my role.”
As a new graduate midwife at CWH, her first interaction with clinical coach Dani provided the cultural safety she was looking for in her workplace. “We were in a workshop and there was a discussion around perinatal mortality. Because Dani was involved, we were able to safely engage in a really robust conversation about te ao Māori and beliefs
At other times, the role is more pastoral. “A lot of what we do is actually whanaungatanga, like making cups of tea for our new staff who are working in the DHB at a really stressful time, coping with understaffing and the added challenges of Covid-19.” Part of Dani’s motivation to become a clinical coach
surrounding the concepts of tapu (sacred/restricted)
was rooted in her own mixed whakapapa and the role
and noa (free from tapu/unrestricted).”
she plays within her local collective of Māori midwives.
The coaching relationship flourished from there. “Dani would seek me out when I started a shift, checking in to see if there was anything I was unsure of, or that she could help me with.” The manaaki she received was instrumental. “If Dani hadn’t been there providing those moments of pastoral care, allowing me to cry, offload, and receive support, I don’t think I would have survived as intact or confident as I am now. She became my training wheels for those first few weeks, but without making me reliant on her. She empowered me, and I wonder what retention would have been like for other cohorts, had the role existed previously.” Also a Homebirth Association trustee, Ali has been so well supported at CWH that she perceives opportunity where others might see irreconcilable
“I also saw this role as an opportunity to build more collegiality within the DHB. I have a lot to do with Māori midwives ki Tahu, so I thought I’d be in a good position to engage with leadership while supporting minority groups like tāngata whenua by working within te Tiriti.” Knowing that her role provides increased support for midwives returning to practice is another plus for Dani. “We’re now the Midwifery Council-appointed supervisors for midwives returning to practice, so midwives aren’t having to pay for supervision out of their own pockets anymore. DHB clinical coaches now perform that role, which is a great incentive for midwives who might be weighing up whether to come back.” Dani also supports midwives with career progression and hopes her own
difference. “I feel like I straddle both worlds, having a homebirth
role will continue to expand as more midwives reap the benefits. “We
philosophy and working in a tertiary environment. But I enjoy the dynamic
have goals of being able to offer more group teaching sessions, run SIMS,
fast-paced nature of it and as I lean into the role more, I see how my values
and create individual career development plans with midwives who have
fit in. I can still promote normal physiology and protect birth. I see a lot of
specific goals like becoming a flight midwife, for example. We really want
good happening, as much as it’s challenging.”
to see midwives thriving.”
42 | AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND MIDWIFE
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