Midwife Andrea McLelland will have to borrow money to get through the Christmas period, due to being nearly $25,000 short of midwifery payments from the Ministry of Health. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Midwife Andrea McLelland will have to borrow money to get through the Christmas period, due to being nearly $25,000 short of midwifery payments from the Ministry of Health. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
A solo mum of six is struggling to survive because she is nearly $25,000 short of expected midwifery payments from the Ministry of Health.
Andrea Mclelland, 32, has been forced to re-mortgage her house and is having to borrow money from family to get her kids through the festiveseason.
She's one of hundreds of Lead Maternity Care (LMC) midwives from across the country left furious after an email from the ministry advised them they couldn't get paid until mid-January next year.
"This has never happened to us before. They've always not paid us on stat holidays, which is fine, but they have never not paid us over the entire Christmas period [...] it came as a complete shock," the Whangaparāoa mum said.
At 4.04pm on Wednesday, the email - seen by the Herald - informed midwives they had until 3.30pm that day to make a claim, otherwise payments couldn't begin to be processed until January 10. After claims were accepted, it took at least another week for the payment to be received by the midwife.
Essentially, they had already missed the deadline when the email landed.
Following a story by the Herald about the upset, the ministry apologised for incorrectly advising that the cut-off time for claims being submitted for payment was December 22, when the email was sent.
"This should have read 23 December," a spokesman said.
"We acknowledge that this caused considerable concern and we sincerely apologise for the error. We have extended the period to accept claims till noon tomorrow, 24 December, and will expedite the processing and payments of these claims."
However, Mclelland - and other midwives who posted outrage online - said they should have been given more warning than that, at least a month's notice so they could plan their holidays.
"I have to work over Christmas and New Year because I have a mortgage to pay and have six children to take care of," she said.
"It's put us up s**t creek [...] I need to be able to put petrol in my car and pay for childcare while I work. We are just going to have to somehow scrap through."
Her six kids are aged from 14 to 2.
"I'm also in the middle of a break-up; this job isn't great for relationships. We are on call 24/7 a week, we have to drop everything at a moment's notice.
"We've just sold our house, I'm trying to find another house, so lots of stresses going on that the moment, he last thing we needed was another added financial stress."
Instead of working at the hospital for district health boards, LMC midwives work in the community. They are self-employed and as every pregnant woman is entitled to funded midwifery care in New Zealand, they put in claims to the Ministry of Health which pays them.
Often LMC midwives care for a handful of woman at any one time and stay with them until up to six weeks after their giving birth.
After each trimester and the postnatal period, they can make a claim to the Ministry of Health which is usually accepted within 24 to 48 hours and the payment made about a week later.
"So if you are putting in a claim every week, you know you are going to be paid every week," Mclelland said.
On November 22, the ministry introduced a new payment system which meant many midwives, like Mclelland, lost about $400 for travel expenses per pregnant woman, which equals about $20,000 less a year.
"I could see a woman about eight times throughout her birth and each time could be driving between 15 to 45 minutes," she said.
Solo mum of six Andrea Mclelland, 32, loves midwifery but doesn't know how long she can continue you working for free. Photo / Supplied
Mclelland said when the new payment system kicked in, there were so many claims that were being wrongly rejected so already she hadn't been paid for a month.
"I'm owed about $17,000, which I'm hoping will come in tomorrow, but a lot of that will go to paying back family I've borrowed money off. Then I have another $7000 to claim, not to mention I'll have to pay my tax bill early January," Mclelland said.
A ministry spokesperson said it was disappointing to hear midwives had been experiencing claiming issues. They said the new system included "Rural practice and travel supplements" (RPaTS) for the provision of care to women who live in rural areas.
The level of payment for each RPaTS was determined by the urban accessibility classification (UAC) of the woman's National Health Index address at the time the services were provided.
However, the ministry acknowledged the system didn't always reflect a region's access to health services, and a review was underway.
"This review should be completed in the first half of 2022 and providers will be advised of any changes by their IT vendors.
Meanwhile, midwives like Mclelland said she didn't know much more she could take.
She loved her job and it meant a lot to her caring for other woman but like many in her profession she was unsure how long she could continuing being a midwife.
"It was never about the money but there's only so much you can work for free, I have kids to look after."
