Conditional Offer Acceptance Form and Police Vetting form due no more than a month after your offer

Wānanga Weeks

Wānanga locations (rooms will be confirmed closer to each wānanga):
South Island: Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin
North Island: Whitireia, Porirua

* We cannot enrol you into the Bachelor of Midwifery until this section is completed and uploaded to your application portal. *

Under the Children's Act 2014 all individuals that engage as children’s workers must be appropriately safety checked before they commence the programme. All nursing learners are required to consent to a criminal history check as part of the safety checking, this is carried out via the New Zealand Police vetting service.

You should already have a copy of the vetting consent form (with your offer of place). The form can also be found here. Please complete and upload the form in your application portal along with two verified forms of identification. 

In order to confirm your identity for police vetting, two forms of ID must be sighted, one primary and one secondary, one of which must be photographic.

Primary ID includes:

• Passport (NZ or Overseas)
• NZ Firearms Licence
• NZ Full Birth Certificate (issued on or after 19981)
• NZ Citizenship Certificate
• NZ Refugee Travel Document
• NZ Emergency Travel Document
• NZ Certificate of Identity

Secondary ID includes:

• NZ Driver Licence
• 18+ card
• NZ Full Birth Certificate (issued before 1998)
• Community Services card
• SuperGold Card
• NZ Employee Photo Identification Card
• NZ Student Photo Identification Card
• Inland Revenue number
• NZ issued utility bill (issued not more than six months earlier)
• NZ Teachers Registration certificate
• NZ Electoral Roll Record
• International Driving Permit
• Steps to Freedom Form

You can bring your identification to Otago Polytechnic customer services and they can sight the IDs for you. Alternatively, you can use an identity referee to verify the identification and email a digital copy to us.

An Identity Referee must:

• be a person of standing in the community (e.g. registered professional, religious or community leader, Police employee)
• be over 16 years of age.
• not be related or a partner/spouse.
• not be a co-resident of the applicant.
• JP (Justice of the Peace)

To verify an applicant’s identity, the Identity Referee must:

1. Sight the original versions of each identity document.
2. Compare the photographic image with the applicant to confirm they are the same person.
3. Sign and date a copy of each document to verify that the documents produced by the applicant relate to that person.
4. Provide his or her name and contact details.

Further information to assist you with completing the form can be found here. You must complete this process to enable your enrolment into the Bachelor of Midwifery programme.

Note: if you are an Australian Resident, the vetting form is modified to include an Australian National Police History Check. Complete the Australian vetting form instead and submit this with your signed Conditional Place Offer.

Having a valid First Aid Certificate is a requirement for enrollment. You will not be enrolled until you have either completed or booked the course and uploaded a screenshot to your application portal. This certificate must include proficiency in CPR and cover the NQF unit standards 6401 and 6402 (or an equivalent). 

Textbooks

Year One - approximately $900
Year Two - approximately $700

 Laptop or Personal Computer

All students will need a laptop computer. Otago Polytechnic has wireless internet available throughout its Dunedin campus and on Whitireia campus for the North Island-based students. Computers can be PC or Macintosh but must be internet ready.

One of our fabulous Customer Support Engineers has put together some helpful information on purchasing a laptop/computer. Check it out here. 

Otago Polytechnic offers all students free access to Microsoft Office 365 Proplus.  This can be installed on up to five devices. Please click here to find detailed instruction. Laptops must have either built in microphones or a headset and microphone.

Students will need a home broadband internet connection.

Year One Equipment

• Pinard Stethoscope - approximately $17.25
• Sphygmomanometer - approximately $65.00
• Stethoscope - approximately $95.00
• Digital Thermometer - approximately $15.00

These are available as a bundle for online purchase through Pharmaco for $175.00 if you choose to purchase through them. 

The 603 stethoscope (more expensive model) is better quality and has a lifetime guarantee. It has stainless steel binaural tubes, insulated tubing with concealed spring, stainless steel bell, and a more sensitive diaphragm for greater amplification and crisper high frequency sound. Comes with a five year warranty

The 641 Sprague is still a good stethoscope and comes with a one year warranty. The binaural tubes are aluminium. It has double tubes and exposed spring. The chest-piece drum is chrome-plated zinc. It’s an excellent starter stethoscope.

• Suturing Set – approximately $50.00 comprising:
  • one pair thumb dressing forceps with a ribbed or serrated mouth
  • one pair of scissors (one sharp and one blunt end)
  • one needle holder (8 inch length)
  • one artery forcep (preferred but not essential)

Also available as a bundle from Pharmaco for $37.00. 

The above equipment items will not be available to purchase on the day, they must be purchased online. Please find a link to the Pharmaco page below where you can purchase these bundles as well as a Promo Code to use for Student discount:

Pharmaco Medical Emergency (pharmaco-medicalemergency.co.nz)

Promotional Code: MIDWIFERY24

Travel and Accommodation for Wānanga

All students are responsible for travel cost to Wānanga weeks. This will involve flights, accommodation, transportation and food.

Travel and accommodation for Midwifery Practice Placements

Some Year One and Two students (especially in rural areas) will need to travel to main centres with some clients and for specific midwifery practice experiences – please allow for extra costs of travel, accommodation and child care.  Petrol and accommodation will add up over the entirety of the programme.

Final year placements are individually negotiated but students should plan for at least two placements away from their home locations. Please plan for travel and accommodation costs of these placements. Main centre placements are contestable and students who live in main centres will be required to leave for at least one placement.

Cell phone

Required

Car and Full NZ Drivers Licence

Required - this can be uploaded onto the application portal.

New Zealand College of Midwives Professional Membership (includes indemnity insurance)

$60.00 per annum

Other costs (Year Three – compulsory)

National Midwifery Exam fee and registration, both payable by student directly to the Midwifery Council of New Zealand (listed as $835.00 September 2024)

All costs are approximate and based on information available at the time of publication.

Click here for a Year One Booklist. All titles are available at the University Bookshop, Dunedin, unless otherwise stated. All texts are required. 

Availability in Library:

Communication: Core Interpersonal Skills for Healthcare Professionals (5 copies)
Gjyn O'Toole 4th edition. Chatwood, NSW; Elsevier Australia
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/ktjtbo/OTAGO_ALMA21283481660001891
            > BM102104 Midwifery assessment and practical skills

Introducing pharmacology: For nursing and healthcare (2 hardcopies & eBook)
Roger McFadden, 3^rd ed. New York : Routledge 2019
Hardcopy -
https://otago.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/64OTAGO_INST/7vvntb/alma9925900679601891
eBook -
https://otago.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/64OTAGO_INST/7vvntb/alma9925899461101891
            > BM105304 Pharmacology Foundations

Introduction to research for midwives (10 hardcopies)
Rowena Doughty, Diane Ménage, 4^th ed. Amsterdam : Elsevier 2023
https://otago.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/64OTAGO_INST/7vvntb/alma9926135574201891
            > BM101104 Midwifery Ways of Knowing 1

Midwifery: Preparation for Practice (4 hardcopies of bk1 and bk2 & eBook allows 9 users at a time)
Sally Pairman; Sally K. Tracy; Hannah Dahlen; Lesley Dixon
4th ed. Philadelphia : Elsevier 2018
Hardcopy -
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/cahro6/OTAGO_ALMA21251601400001891
eBook -
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/cahro6/OTAGO_ALMA51278271920001891
            > BM101104 Midwifery Ways of Knowing 1
            > BM103104 Integrated Midwifery Practice 1
            > BM106104 Bioscience Foundations
            > BM102204 Sharing the woman’s experience of childbirth
            > BM104104 Women in Aotearoa

Midwives Handbook for Practice (6 copies)
New Zealand College of Midwives, issuing body.
5th edition 2015. Christchurch : New Zealand College of Midwives
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/cahro6/OTAGO_ALMA21127348830001891
            > BM101104 Midwifery Ways of Knowing 1
            > BM103104 Integrated Midwifery Practice 1

Physiology in Childbearing: With Anatomy and Related Biosciences (5 hardcopies & eBook)
Jean Rankin, 4^th ed. Edinburgh : Elsevier 2017 (OR 5^th ed. Edinburgh : Elsevier 2024.)
Hardcopy –
https://otago.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/64OTAGO_INST/7vvntb/alma9924941511001891
eBook –
https://otago.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/64OTAGO_INST/7vvntb/alma9924941511001891
            > BM105104 Bioscience Foundations

Sustainability, Midwifery and Birth (unlimited users - no hardcopy copy in the library)
Lorna Davies; Rea Daellenbach; Mary Kensington
2nd ed. Milton : Taylor & Francis Group
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/13v7lu0/OTAGO_ALMA51288338230001891
            > BM101104 Midwifery Ways of Knowing 1

Skills for Midwifery Practice (5 copies)
Ruth Johnson RGN,; Wendy Taylor 1960-; Sally de-Vitry Smith; Sara Bayes
Australia and New Zealand edition. Chatswood, NSW : Elsevier Australia
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/cahro6/OTAGO_ALMA21242738710001891
            > BM102104 Midwifery assessment and practical skills

The Midwifery Partnership: A Model for Practice (3 copies)
Karen Guilliland; Sally Pairman; New Zealand College of Midwives.
2nd ed. Christchurch N.Z. : New Zealand College of Midwives
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/13v7lu0/OTAGO_ALMA2196246330001891
            > BM101104 Midwifery Ways of Knowing 1

Visual anatomy & physiology (6 copies)
Frederic Martini; William C. Ober; Judi Lindsley Nath
3rd edition.; Global edition. Harlow, United Kingdom : Pearson
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/13v7lu0/OTAGO_ALMA21230419080001891
            > BM106104 Bioscience Foundations

Whaiora : Māori health development (4 copies)
Mason Durie 2nd ed. Auckland, N.Z. : Oxford University Press
https://otago.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/sh292e/OTAGO_ALMA21120902470001891
            > BM106104 Hauora Maori

To manage the risk posed by vaccine preventable diseases tauira are required to provide proof of vaccination and or serological evidence of immunity as outlined on the table below. Failure to provide this evidence means you will not be able to attend your clinical learning experience which could affect your progress through the programme.  

 Please follow these steps:

1.  Book your test: Book your blood tests https://bookings.sclabs.co.nz/

2.  Make your payment: A form will be emailed to you once you have paid  

Blood collection fee: 

3.  Go to the laboratory: You can take the form to the following APHG laboratory collection centres: 

Please note: If you do not live near one of the above areas: 

You can complete the blood test at a Laboratory Collection centre in your area. Alternatively, you may choose to have your tests completed during Orientation week when you are in Dunedin.   

4.  Immunisation record: Please phone your doctor’s office and ask them to email a copy of your immunisation record to you.

5. Forward to student health: Forward this to studenthealth@op.ac.nz with the subject line: Immune Status Midwifery 2025.  

(We need this evidence to gain a full picture of your immunity, and it will enable Student Health to provide specific advice if you are not immune to any diseases). 

 If you are not immune: 

1. You will be contacted: The nurse at Student Health will contact you  
2. Advice: You will be provided with advice regarding vaccinations 
3. Payment: You are required to pay for your own vaccinations  

Vaccine preventable disease requirements   

The Bachelor of Midwifery Programme may recognise prior learning from other New Zealand Education Institutions.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Applications will be considered by Course Coordinators during the first Wānanga week, applications will not be considered prior to this date. If you are interested in applying for recognition of prior learning, please see the Recognition of Prior Learning policy. When you apply for recognition of prior learning, please bring with you:

1. Completed application form
2. Certified academic transcript

An assessment fee may apply, we will contact you directly if this is required. For further information please see the Recognition of Prior Learning policy on the Otago Polytechnic website. You can have your application pre-assessed prior to paying the fee to ensure you are eligible. 

Update 28/01: for the RPL application form, please visit Moodle.

Orientation for all students will take place in Dunedin, at Otago Polytechnic, from Monday 27th January to Friday 31st January.

The mihi whakatau (formal welcome) will be held on Monday afternoon, so all tauira are required to arrive by 12.45pm for a 1.00pm start. For those of you who will be flying in, arrive on Monday, and Orientation will be finished by Midday on Friday.

Timetable

2025 Student Orientation Timetable

Orientation Checklist

2025 Student Orientation Checklist

Accommodation

Short term accommodation might be available relatively close to the Polytechnic. Otago Polytechnic Student Village provides on-campus living for students, and sometimes has availability during Orientation.

Moodle and IT requirements/information

During this week, you will be able to access Moodle, the learning platform used in the Bachelor of Midwifery. This can be accessed via the Otago Polytechnic Student Hub: https://www.op.ac.nz/hub/. You will also be given an information session on Otago Polytechnic email and Adobe Connect. The Midwifery programme relies heavily on these computer programmes so it is important that you feel comfortable using them.

Please bring your laptop and headsets to Orientation as there will be an opportunity to speak to IT about any issues you may have whilst here on campus. Helpdesk will configure your laptop to enable remote assistance. If you have any problems call 0800 765 948 (0800 POLY IT) or email servicedesk@op.ac.nz).

Food Requirements

During the week we will be sharing some meals. If you have any specific dietary requirements please let us know by emailing Midwifery@op.ac.nz

Outdoor Activities

We will be participating in outdoor activities during this week. The weather can be quite mixed at this time of year, so do bring summer clothing, as well as a good selection of warmer clothing including walking shoes and rain gear.

Year one equipment bag

At Orientation you will be given your year one equipment bag, this bag contains the consumable equipment you will need at hui ākonga (this is different to the equipment mentioned in the equipment section). This bag is small and can be put in your checked luggage or taken as a carry on bag to travel home (for those flying).

1. What is a hui ākonga?
   The word ākonga is the Māori term for a person who is learning or studies an academic subject. This also refers to your satellite teaching group (group of learners).
   
   
2. Who is a Kaiako?
   This is your teacher or lecturer.
   
   
3. Where will my hui ākonga group be held?
   · Palmerston North – UCOL Palmerston North
   · Whanganui – Whanganui Hospital
   · Wellington – Petone: Petone Community House, Porirua: Whitireia, 
   · Central Otago – Otago Polytechnic Cromwell Campus
   · Dunedin – Otago Polytechnic Dunedin Campus
   · Invercargill – Southland Hospital or Gore - Gore Kid's Club
   
   
4. When will my hui ākonga group be held?
   This is dependent on your kaiako and will be determined at the beginning of the learning year.  You will however meet at the same time/day every week for up to 4 hours.
   
   
5. What are my Year One placement requirements?
   The first shifts you will engage in will be based in a hospital setting. You will be required to complete 21 x 8.5 hour shift across the year. These are spread over four blocks in March-April, June-July, September and November. The shifts will be a mixture of day, afternoon and evening hours. Shifts may be in the antenatal, post natal and delivery wards depending on the hospital.
   
   
6. What will my follow throughs involve?
   You will be required to follow five women through pregnancy, labour and birth, up until six weeks postnatally. This is to enable an understanding of how childbirth is experienced by the pregnant woman and her family.
   These follow throughs must be sourced by the student individually. Prior to course commencement you may have follow-through women in mind, however these will need to be confirmed with our Year One staff and consent paperwork formalised beofre you can become involved in the follow-through.
   
   
7. What other weekly commitments can I expect?
   · online learning (via Moodle & Kura cloud) 
   · online tutorials with Lecturers (via Adobe Connect) 
   
   
8. What would my average week look like?
   Included here is a monthly schedule created by a current Midwifery student during both 2018 and 2019. In this time period there were no Wānanga. Please also note that placement dates may differ between years

The purpose of these Information Sessions is to inform prospective students, your whānau and your other support people, about how our midwifery programme is structured and to have a discussion about the support our students require to assist them in succeeding in the Midwifery degree. These will be held in all satellite locations. Further information to follow on confirmed dates for satellites not listed below.

Palmerston North:
To be advised.

Wellington:
To be advised.

Dunedin:
To be advised.

Southland:
To be advised.

Whanganui:
To be advised.