Supporting positive birth

Anna Krakosky is passionate about midwifery, lifelong learning and being an advocate for pregnant people – and her postgraduate Midwifery study has brought all of those loves together.

For the past 20 years, Anna has practised midwifery in Manawatū, mostly as a Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) with a focus on homebirth. Currently, she works at a birthing centre and as a locum LMC supporting practices in the community.

“I'm a bit of a geek and I'm really passionate about my work. In midwifery, things are always changing and health information is always updating. The value of lifelong learning is it helps keep you up-to-date and current.”

Anna achieved her Master of Midwifery with Distinction at Otago Polytechnic, where her research focused on how to make birth a more positive experience.

“There's a lot of research out there now about birth trauma, and it hurts my midwifery heart to hear those stories. I wanted to look at protective factors that could make for a more positive birth experience.”

Her findings led to a theory of “set and setting” as key factors that can make a significant difference.

“At a very basic level, ‘set’ is anything internal to the birthing person such as personality, intentions, expectations and preparation. ‘Setting’ is what's surrounding the person, so the physical environment but also the emotional environment, which includes relationships with and between care providers.”

Anna was recently invited to present her findings at the Joan Donnelly Midwifery Research Forum in in Dunedin, where they were received with great interest.

“I’m now hoping to get a journal article published, and I’d also like to share it in an accessible way so pregnant people and other midwives can use the framework of set and setting as well.”

Anna completed her postgraduate degree online from her home in Palmerston North, while continuing to work as a midwife.

“I could not have done it if it wasn’t distance learning,” she says. “The online platform was really excellent and very easy to navigate, and I had all of the support that I could possibly want. I could study when it suited me, around my casual work, my locum work and also my children."

She is also full of praise for her supervisors, especially Suzanne Miller.

“I had the absolute best supervisors. They were absolutely incredible, and I would never have reached the end of the journey without them. I am such a perfectionist that I was frozen at the start. Suzanne’s skill and knowledge and kindness helped me move past those blocks and take that next step.”

Her advice to anyone considering a career in midwifery is to make sure it’s a real passion and something you really want to do.

“The work we do is so important and so skilled, but nobody really understands it until they either need a midwife or they are a midwife. My passion is to advocate for pregnant people, ensure they have true informed consent and support them to have the best birth experience possible.”