Story by Sarah McMillan\/cvnznews<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Midwives across New Zealand will now be able to offer a wider range of funded immunisations, a move the Government says will strengthen protection for mothers, babies, and wh\u0101nau during the most vulnerable stages of early life. Health Minister Simeon Brown says the change marks an important step in improving access to essential healthcare for families nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the expanded programme, midwives\u2014who already provide pregnancy vaccines\u2014will now be able to administer funded immunisations to mothers after birth, to babies, and to eligible family members until a child reaches 12 months of age. Brown says the shift is designed to make vaccination easier and more convenient for families navigating the busy months before and after birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis change will improve access to vaccination for expectant mothers, new parents, infants, and close family members, helping to ensure timely protection against vaccine\u2011preventable diseases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move builds on changes introduced in August last year, when community midwives first became funded to deliver antenatal immunisations. Officials say the expansion reflects the trusted role midwives play, often seeing families more frequently than any other health professional during pregnancy and the early postnatal period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMidwives are trusted health professionals who see families regularly during pregnancy and after birth,\u201d Brown said. \u201cExtending the vaccines they can provide gives mothers and babies more opportunities to get the protection they need, when they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Health leaders say the timing is significant, with New Zealand continuing to manage outbreaks of measles and pertussis. Infants are particularly vulnerable to both illnesses, and early vaccination is considered one of the most effective tools for preventing severe disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Providing immunisations through routine maternity care also reduces barriers such as travel, cost, and scheduling challenges\u2014factors that can delay or prevent families from staying up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative is being delivered through a partnership between Health New Zealand, the Ministry of Health, the Midwifery Council, the New Zealand College of Midwives, and the Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC). Training and support are being rolled out to ensure midwives are equipped to offer the expanded service safely and confidently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cImmunisation remains the best protection,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBy supporting midwives to offer a wider range of funded immunisations, we are making it easier for families to access essential healthcare and ensuring more Kiwis are protected from preventable illness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Story by Sarah McMillan\/cvnznews Midwives across New Zealand will now be able to offer a wider range of funded immunisations, a move the Government says will strengthen protection for mothers, babies, and wh\u0101nau during the most vulnerable stages of early life. Health Minister Simeon Brown says the change marks an important step in improving access<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41],"tags":[441,442,443],"coauthors":[380],"class_list":{"0":"post-9680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-immunisation","9":"tag-midwives","10":"tag-vaccinations"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Immunisation-Guide-for-Your-Baby-scaled.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9680"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9683,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9680\/revisions\/9683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=9680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}