Midwife Lost 30-Year Career to Vaccine Mandate

On that fateful day in November 21, I was mandated from my job as an LMC midwife. Well I never called it a job, it was a passion, my passion for over 30 years and I loved every (almost every) single day of it. One day, I would also help out the unit when they were short on staff and the next day, I was considered the most dangerous creature that roamed the face of the earth because I did not want to take their covid injection. Intuitively, I felt it was wrong and forcing people to have it under the illusion of ‘choice’ was definitely wrong and I would not tell clients to take the injection, when I myself felt it wrong to do so. I urged my college but they stood by and did nothing, they went along with the narrative. Where were my midwifery lecturers at university with whom I had just completed a Masters degree with, where are their voices? I was suspended from the midwifery council, my only crime was to decline their injection, I was told that of I “refused to obey the laws of NZ” (which is not true), my suspension would not be lifted. The Nursing Council also denied me an APC because a reference letter from the midwifery council was scathing. A passion that I had worked at for over 30 years, just discarded was, to say the least, devastating. My continuous education that I had worked hard to obtain, just discarded.

Eventually when the mandates were relaxed, my suspension was lifted and when I appealed to the Nursing Council stating those of Dr’s Canaday and Shelton (at that time) had been lifted by the court, so why therefore are they denying me now? An APC was granted by the Nursing Council and in time, the Midwifery Council lifted theirs.

I no longer have the passion that I once did and only work a few hours here and there in Midwifery. If I do a shift, I look at them and wonder “Were you exempted, while we lost our jobs?” Why did our colleagues not support us?

It was our faith that kept me and my husband strong, I was the breadwinner and now for the first time in my life, I had to apply for welfare and despaired of ever seeing my family again. I missed my mum and brother’s funeral because I could not afford the flights across. I darn well refused to wear a mask, ever. Even back in Nursing, for the so called third wave, you will not see me wearing a mask.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​