NZ Midwifery Council Erasing “Mother” And “Woman” From Scope of Practice

By Mel Taylor

The words “mother” and “woman” are being entirely erased from the Midwifery Scope of Practice.

The purging has been observed to have been done very quietly and will likely cause public backlash from those seeing the redefinition of women sports and spaces spreading into more science-based environments.

As midwifery is very specifically around women, the purging has angered those who hold that a woman is an adult human female.

Health researcher and former midwife Dr Sarah Donovan is one of the critics of the latest redefinition:

Why erase these important words from midwifery in New Zealand?

If this is about being inclusive, there is scope for terms to be used alongside each other. My understanding of what inclusive language in healthcare means is that it actually includes rather than excludes; it is additive of new terminology rather than removing widely-recognised and culturally cherished terms such as ‘mother’ and ‘māmā’

A reasonable question to ask would be – has the Midwifery Council actually sought the views of the population they serve, and of the wider NZ public on removing the words ‘mother’ and ‘woman’ from Midwifery care in NZ?

Have they asked mothers-to-be as a group how they would wish to be described instead?”

For anyone wishing to give their opinion on the erased wording, the revised Scope of Practice document is open for consultation until 21 November and feedback can be provided via The Midwifery Council’s webpage here.

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