Hi,

I'm a registered nurse and a student midwife. I worked in New Zealand 2009-2010 as an agency nurse mostly in postnatal wards. I loved it so much, I went home to Ireland and applied for the midwifery H.dip. I will be qualifying in September and am moving back to New Zealand mid October. I cant start my registration process as I wont have the relevant documentation from Ireland until October I had planned to work as an agency nurse pending my midwifery registration (as my nursing registration is for life there which is nice) and have been told that there are plenty of shifts available on the postnatal ward I have been to before.

I suppose I am only really realising how much money and effort is required to register as a midwife between the 5 competency course things you have to do and paying for a clinical supervisor etc...not to mention the registration and APC cost. I suppose I am wondering if it is worth my while? Should I just stick to working on the postnatal as a nurse but doing midwifery duties? What are the realities of it once you are registered? Is the cost overwhelming? Is it worth it? How much does a supervisor cost?

I'd love to hear from other newly qualified midwives, particularly those who were nurses beforehand. From what I have been told, the higher diploma is not recognized as much as the degree and nursing experience is not counted as relevant when applying for jobs. Is this what you have encountered? Have any of you been offered an orientation programme?

I would really really like to work as a midwife and gain experience but don't want to be crippled with debt as a result especially as my visa is only for a year. Would really appreciate any advice/tips/info/feedback/stories/encouragement/warnings etc....
Thanks a million in advance,
Rachel