About me
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Sheryl Wright
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Hi.
I began working as a community midwife in 2004
in the rural and remote rural areas of the North
Waikato. In 2019 I moved to the northern Coromandel
and am excited to be continuing my passion
for providing rural primary midwifery care.
I'm a proud Mum of three
adults and recently became a 'Grammy' for the
third 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.
In my spare time you’ll find me
spending time with my family, with my head in a book, out in the
garden, cooking or planning my next travel adventure!
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My services
I cover the
upper and western side of the Coromandel peninsula from Port
Jackson to Manaia, including Colville, Kennedy Bay & Coromandel Town.
I
specialise in providing community primary care and offer
friendly, supportive, flexible and professional care
including:
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Free Pregnancy Testing
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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 I 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 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.
My philosophy
of care
-
I 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.
-
I acknowledge
that research shows outcomes improve when women
birth in an environment that supports and protects
normal birth so I encourage low-risk women to plan
to birth either at home or in a primary maternity
unit.
-
I 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.
-
I believe that
with the right support most women experiencing a
normal labour are able to give birth without the use
of pharmaceutical drugs but I will discuss all the
options that are available should you require these
or if your labour is abnormal or complicated.
-
I 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 I will arrange this for you.
-
I
am
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 I will support you with alternatives.
-
I believe that
midwives and women should work in partnership, with
women as active informed consenting participants in
their care planning. I base my practice on
research and the principles of informed choice and
consent and will assist you in your decision-making
with information and education.
-
I
will respect and support your decisions, however
there are of course limits to safe practice and as
a responsible care provider I will advise you if
these limits are reached.
How do you
work?
As
a community midwife I am "on call" 24/7 for urgent
care. This often means I work long
unpredictable hours so it's essential I get regular
time off "off-call" to rest and recuperate, not only
for my own health and wellbeing, but also to ensure
I can do my best for you and your baby when I am "on
call".
Most of my time
“off-call” is planned in advance (e.g weekends
off, annual leave, attending the meetings / study days required
for my continuing education) but at times I
might need to go “off-call” unexpectedly, if for
example I am fatigued after a long birth, am
unwell, or have a family commitment or emergency. At these times
I will be supported by a locum midwife (or other midwives from the region) to ensure
you are always offered the safest possible care.
I understand it
can be disappointing when I am unavailable but I ask you to
please respect my own self-care and understand that I have a
life and family outside of our work, just like you do.
When will I see
you?
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 visits are 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.
For 'routine'
antenatal care I offer clinics in Coromandel (Wednesday
afternoons) and Colville (as required).
Once your baby
is born your home visits will be offered (other
locations 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! Please
understand at times I might be running
a little early or late, or may need to
reschedule your appointment. I will make
every effort to keep you informed if I can't
make your appointment (to assist with this
please ensure I can always contact you by
letting me know if you change your phone number
or address).
If you are not able to keep your appointment
please contact me as well in advance as possible and
I will do
my 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 my next
clinic day to be seen. I am 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
you, your baby and me as a midwife at risk. If appointments are frequently missed
I may need to
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. I 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 I may need to withdraw from your care and
the Police may be involved.
Please also
ensure that when I visit you at home that your
home is a safe environment. This includes
making sure that any animals are tied up.
What happens
if my pregnancy or birth becomes complicated?
Community midwives specialise in
providing maternity care within the "primary”
(normal) scope of practice. Although I hope
everything goes smoothly for you a vital part of
my 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, I 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 I am 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.
I 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
in order to maintain your continuity of care.
All midwives are trained to provide emergency
care should this become necessary.
How do I
contact you?
New Clients
I look forward
to hearing from potential new clients.
As there is a maximum number of
clients I can safely care for each month please
contact me as soon as
possible in your pregnancy to check on availability.
I will then arrange an appointment to meet and
we can discuss your
options.
If phoning
please make contact during business hours (Monday to Friday: 9am -
5pm) on (022) 500 1310 or
send an email
Existing
Clients
Please remember
that I am "on-call" 24/7 for EMERGENCIES ONLY.
I am 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 me URGENTLY (e.g. You are
concerned about you or your baby’s
well-being or you are in labour) please
always PHONE on (022) 5001310
If your call is answered by
voicemail (which can happen if I am on
another call, am busy with another client or
am in
an area with poor mobile phone coverage)
please leave a message and I will
ring
you back as soon as I 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 me
using
WhatsApp as this uses the wi-fi network
to send the call.
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 me.
Non-Urgent Contacts:
Before
making contact I ask that you please consider if your
question or request could wait until your
next appointment? If not please
restrict all non-urgent contacts to within
business hours e.g. Monday to Friday: 9am -
5pm.
If you have
a lingering problem its important that you make contact during
normal office hours and don’t wait until
10pm on a Saturday night!
Please remember
it is YOUR responsibility to ensure you are
always able to make contact. This means making
sure you always have enough credit on your phone
to make calls. It is not acceptable to text
asking to be phoned back.
