Digital midwives reduce workforce strain and improve attendance

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The introduction of ‘digital midwives’ at Counties Manukau’s Community Midwifery Service has increased the available workforce, reduced strain on in-person resources and improved attendance rates by providing remote support for pregnant women. 

Digital midwives, working from home, offer a range of services including telehealth consultations, managing antenatal referrals, and initial booking appointments.

Isabella Smart, midwife manager for Community Midwifery, says the model emerged out of necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic and has continued due to its success and adaptability.

Health NZ Counties Manukau now employs eight dedicated digital midwives, along with additional clinical specialists and community midwives who perform some digital duties as part of their roles. 

This workforce handles around 4,500 antenatal and over 10,000 obstetric referrals annually as well as staffing the 0800 Midwifery phone line. Digital midwives also provide online learning sessions for pregnant women and their families, covering topics from childbirth to infant care.

Remote access to clinical information systems enables them to manage patient records, make referrals, order tests and scans and prescribe medications remotely.

They can also coordinate care with obstetricians and other specialists and even arrange for hospital admissions when needed.

“Our use of the BadgerNet electronic maternity record, Clinical Portal access to documentation, and use of online prescribing, screening test and ultrasound scan ordering enables us to provide a wide range of clinical care by phone and digitally,” Smart says.

“We offer extensive training for our Community Midwifery staff to work as digital midwives as it requires good digital IT skills. A high level of phone consultation skills combines with accurate following of our agreed processes in order for digital midwifery to be a safe and appropriate option of care for clients.”

Benefits include reduced no-show rates for antenatal appointments. In 2023, only four percent of digital appointments were not attended, compared to a 14 percent non-attendance rate for in-person appointments. 

Phone appointments for initial bookings typically take about 45 minutes, as opposed to over an hour for in-person sessions and digital midwives provide quick clinical input for new antenatal referrals for clients who would otherwise wait four weeks or more to see a midwife in person for that first consultation.

Smart says this flexible model not only helps with the current shortage of midwives but also appeals to those who need to work unconventional hours or from different locations. 

Digital midwifery has proven especially popular among midwives who have limited work availability due to personal responsibilities or who have moved away from the area but wish to stay in the workforce. 

"We can employ midwives who are only available to work small amounts of time or at varied times during the day, rather than a standard eight-hour shift," Smart explains. 

“This gets midwives back into the workforce while reducing the administration time for in person clinical midwives who have more time to spend with clients due to the support that their digital colleagues can offer from home.”

Hear more from Isabella Smart at the eHealth Nursing and Midwifery Workshop on December 3, 2024, part of Digital Health Week in Hamilton. 

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