18/03/2026
I feel like I’m sitting in a strange in-between space right now…
I’ve received my Masters result — an A grade — but I haven’t yet seen the markers’ report or feedback. At the same time, I’ve just completed my Midwifery Standards Review today.
It feels like a major cycle has come to a close.
In the final weeks of writing my thesis, I was notified by the Midwifery Council that I had been randomly selected for audit, with four weeks to submit everything. I asked for an extension until after my thesis was handed in — and as soon as I submitted, I gave myself a week to rest, then went straight into the audit.
Thankfully, keeping my portfolio up to date made that process manageable. And then, on my birthday, I received confirmation that I had passed. All that remained was my Emergency Skills study day and my MSR.
After taking a short break over summer, I pulled everything together — and today, I completed my MSR. In that space, I also surrendered my Postgraduate Diploma to formally receive my Masters of Health Science.
Right now, I’m in this quiet void… cooking dinner, emotionally tired yet overjoyed, feeling like I’m both floating and wanting to just sit still and reflect.
I haven’t even re-read my thesis since submitting it — but part of me feels drawn to go back, to sit with it, to really see what has come through me in this work.
This journey has asked a lot of me. At times, it has felt like I’ve had to defend my right to be a midwife — to practise on my terms, grounded in mātauranga Māori, and upheld by the wisdom of my tūpuna, kuia, kaumātua, ngā kōkā, tuakana and teina.
That knowing has been shaped by every wāhine, every pēpi, every whānau I’ve had the honour of walking alongside. This achievement is not mine alone — it belongs to all of us.
And alongside this, I continue to reflect on the increasing medicalisation of childbirth, and the steady rise in caesarean rates. It reminds me why this kaupapa matters, and why I will continue to stand in this space.
Once again, I want to thank all those who had a hand in helping to bring this into te ao mārama.
We did it. 🤍
He wā mutunga, he wā tīmatanga anō.
😭😩☺️😍 - all the feels.