A labour of love

Kizzi Metcalfe knew early on in life that she wanted to become a midwife.

“Initially, it was about wanting to hold lots of babies,” she laughs. “But then, I watched the midwife my mum had for some of my siblings. I realised I wanted to do that too – to care for mums and babies and their whole families.”

In a serendipitous twist, when Kizzi enrolled in the Bachelor of Midwifery at Otago Polytechnic, one of her lecturers was the very midwife who inspired her as a child – Dr Deb Beatson.

“I hadn’t seen her since my mum had her last baby, so to find out she was a lecturer was amazing. I asked her if she recognised me and she did. She even remembered how I used to help carry her pack up the hill to my house.”

Kizzi studied by distance from Wellington, choosing Otago Polytechnic because of the flexibility of the programmes.

“I have really good time management skills and I liked being able to study at my own pace,” she says. “The lecturers provided great wrap-around support as well. They were always happy to have a conversation and share guidance or advice.”

From the very first year of the programme, student midwives spend time learning in the community alongside practising midwives – an aspect which appealed to Kizzi.

“The practical element was top notch. I'm not someone who can sit there for hours on end reading or listening to someone talk. Having that consistent hands-on experience helped me to define my own path as a midwife.”

Kizzi is now a founding member of Awatai Midwives, the Hutt region’s only collective of Māori and Pasifika midwives. She’s also part of a Pasifika midwives’ group that provides support and community to Pasifika student midwives at Otago Polytechnic and Victoria University.

“It’s actually mind-blowing to me that I’m out here in my first year of practice, and doing it in my own way – a way that suits my people.”