Failed abortion, baby born alive ‘gasping for hours’: A midwife’s account of late-term abortion in New Zealand.
Watching a 26-week-old baby born alive and left to die after a failed abortion has horrified an experienced midwife to the point where she was compelled to come forward to share the atrocities of late-term failed abortions taking place in hospitals across New Zealand.
The midwife, named “Jane” for the sake of anonymity, was called to the bedside of a woman giving birth after a medical abortion attempt. But despite the mother following late-term abortion protocols, the baby was born alive, moving its mouth and breathing.
She shares her story for the first time publicly, showing the harsh reality of late-term abortion practices currently taking place within New Zealand.
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Warning: This article contains confronting testimony.
For more than a decade, *Jane worked as a midwife in New Zealand. She had delivered babies, supported grieving parents, and cared for women through the most vulnerable moments of their lives. She had also supported women through early terminations.
But in 2023, Jane says she witnessed something that ended her career.
“My work was focused on saving babies. Not this.”
Jane was working a night shift at a hospital in the central North Island when she was called to the bedside of a woman giving birth after a medical abortion attempt.
But despite the mother taking drugs to kill the baby, as per normal procedure for that type of late-term abortion, the baby was born alive, moving its mouth and breathing. It was placed in a cardboard bedpan and not taken to NICU.
“I Was Expecting a Stillborn”
Jane was working a locum shift in a New Zealand hospital when she read the whiteboard at the start of her night shift.
“You go in and check what’s booked. Written on the board was ‘social termination’.”
That week had already been devastating. “I’d had two stillborns that week. The last one was the night before: Twenty-four weeks and six days.”
The termination listed for that night was at almost the exact same gestation.
“That’s what struck me: the exact same number of weeks. I thought, ‘I can't have another dead baby.’”
She had previously refused to participate in terminations. “Another midwife said, ‘If you were the only one, you would have to.’ And I said, ‘I didn’t sign up for that, and I wouldn’t.’”
Jane believed she could opt out, but she was unaware of her legal rights to freedom of conscience. She had never had to use them before.
So when the call came, she thought she had to go.
“He Was Moving”
Jane was on break when the call bell rang. “I knew she was close to delivery.”
A registered nurse ran into the room. “She said, ‘She’s delivering.’ They couldn’t find the other midwife.”
Jane was now the only midwife on the floor. “I believed the opt-out was not available to me.”
She walked into the bathroom of the delivery room. “The woman was delivering into a cardboard bedpan.”
What Jane saw next has stayed with her ever since. “The baby that came was moving. I noticed his mouth opening and closing. And I thought, oh my God—he’s still alive.”
She had been expecting a stillborn. “He looked like a little baby. I’ve looked after twins born at 26 weeks. They’re little, but they’re babies. And we save them.”
Jane helped the mother back to bed, and the baby was still attached. Another midwife was carrying it in the bedpan.
“Born Gasping. Took Hours to Die.”
Jane says the baby was born alive. “He was gasping. It took hours for him to die.”
She says she was not allowed to intervene. “I wanted to pick him up. I wanted to run him down to SCBU, but I wasn’t allowed to do anything.”
Jane asked repeatedly if the baby was still alive. “Every time I asked, the answer was yes.”
She asked where the baby was. “They said he was on mum’s chest.”
Her voice still falters when she recalls it. “I hope he was held.”
“That Is Not Midwifery”
Jane describes the experience as a complete violation of her profession. “That is not midwifery. That is not what I trained for.”
She had supported women through early terminations before. “With early terminations, I supported their decision. That didn’t mean I supported what they were doing—but I supported them.”
But Jane draws a sharp line at late-term abortions. “They can do it at 20 weeks. It’s disgusting.”
She struggles to understand why this baby was not delivered earlier if termination was chosen. “Why couldn’t she wait fourteen weeks and adopt it out? She still had to labour. It was exactly the same.”
“This Is What the Government Opened Up”
Jane says she later learned of other cases. “They told me about a 28-weeker a couple of months earlier.”
She believes the system now allows outcomes that were once unthinkable. “This is what the government opened up. This is what happens: To kill babies.”
She does not mince words. “That’s how I see late-term abortions: murdering abortions.”
The Cost: A Midwife Lost
She says the trauma followed her long after the shift ended. “I was depressed for the next two years. I was crying. I didn’t want to go anywhere.”
She never returned to midwifery. “Ending my career on that was the most devastating thing.”
She is now in her early sixties. “They lost a good midwife. And we are so short of midwives.”
She worries not only about babies but about women. “I feel for the women missing out on midwives. What the government has done to the system...”
“My work was about saving babies. Not watching them die.”
Abortion Legislation Act 2020
In New Zealand, on average, one baby per month is now being born alive and left to die after failed abortion attempts.
Around 80 attempted abortions since the beginning of 2020 have resulted in a child being born alive but not given life-sustaining care (gestation periods range from 20–30 weeks).
In 2020, New Zealand introduced the Abortion Legislation Act, which dramatically liberalised abortion practices in the country.
Voice For Life says the Abortion Legislation Act is one of the most liberal in the world and translates to scenes of horror unfolding within birthing units and hospitals across the country.
“The reality is, we have inhumane treatment of babies happening right within our maternity wards,” Voice For Life national president Lydia Posthuma says.
“The treatment of these babies is outrageous, and the midwives who have to pick up the pieces are being left with major trauma. Abortion is never the answer.”
*Editorial Note
This article is an anonymised first-person testimony from a formerly-registered New Zealand midwife. It reflects her actual experience.