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A Corresponding Author: sally. pairman@op.ac.nz B Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand C New Zealand College of Midwives D University of Otago, New Zealand E Midwifery Council of New Zealand F Sky Blue House Limited, Wellington G Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology INTRoDuCTIoN The transition from student midwife to registered midwife can be challenging as new midwives come to grips with the realities of professional practice and autonomy. New Zealand’s maternity services are unique in that they are designed to be woman-centred and based on a primary health model that integrates seamlessly with secondary and tertiary services when required. Women choose a Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) to coordinate and provide their care throughout their childbirth experience, and they choose their place of birth. Midwives are chosen to be the LMC by 92% of women (Ministry of Health, 2015) and LMC midwives provide care to women across the Midwifery Scope of Practice (Midwifery Council of New Zealand, 2007) and on their own responsibility. Midwives can choose where and how they work with approximately half employed in maternity facilities (known as core midwives) and half working as LMCs within the community (known as self-employed midwives), providing continuity of care to a caseload of women (Midwifery Council of New Zealand, 2012). Midwives play a central role in maternity services and therefore, as a profession (through the New Zealand College of Midwives (NZCOM) and the Midwifery Council of New Zealand), have established a number of professional frameworks and initiatives to support midwives in their practice. Background: The Midwifery First Year of Practice programme (MFYP) is a fully governmentfunded programme aimed at supporting newly qualified midwives in their first year of practice. This formalised programme provides mentor support, professional continuing education and quality assessment and reflection. Aim: This research was designed to assess and explore the MFYP programme and identify which components New Zealand midwifery graduates considered important and supported them to develop confidence as a midwifery practitioner in their first year of practice. Method: A survey of graduate midwives who participated in the MFYP programme from 2007 to 2010 was undertaken. A survey tool was developed which was designed to explore each element of the programme. Likert scales were provided for the majority of questions with comment boxes also provided so that answers could be contextualised. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS 21 with descriptive statistics provided to demonstrate responses. Findings: Between the years 2007 and 2010, there were 415 new graduate midwives who participated in the MFYP programme, of which 180 responded to the survey (43.4% response rate). The demographics of the respondents were reflective of the total cohort of MFYP programme participants. In their first year of practice, respondents were almost evenly split between self-employed midwives in case loading practice (47.5%) and midwives employed by a maternity facility (45.5%). Support from the mentor and the financial support for education were considered important contributors to developing professional confidence for these new graduates. The majority of respondents reported feeling supported when attending women during labour and birth (92.2%), and at other times during clinical practice (93.9%). Main sources of support were midwives employed within the facility, midwifery practice partners, and midwife mentors from the MFYP programme. Conclusion: Each element of the programme was considered important by new graduates and this was regardless of their practice setting. The MFYP programme is flexible, meets the needs of New Zealand graduates and helps them to increase confidence in their first year of practice as a registered midwife.

The Midwifery First Year of Practice programme: Supporting New Zealand midwifery graduates in their transition to practice