''We're achieving positive outcomes; we're doing a good job,'' she said.
But there is still room for improvement in terms of New Zealand's relationship to its more than 3000 midwives, she says.
First off, there is the problem of image. Midwifery is a profession overwhelmingly dominated by women - ''there might be three [male midwives in New Zealand]'', Ms Temple joked - and that shows in the media coverage of the profession, she says.
Partly, Ms Temple said, that is because New Zealand is one of the only countries in which midwives can work autonomously - without mandatory supervision by medical professionals.
''And I think any time that you're dealing with a predominantly female profession, you have this public surveillance where doctors, the media, other community bodies are concerned with their ability to provide healthcare without medical supervision.''
Ms Temple is working on a master's thesis about how journalists cover midwifery; she would argue that it was almost always with a negative slant against midwives.
''I think the midwife in New Zealand is often on the end of some quite bad press. We often find that some of the backlash we receive is quite reactionary,'' she said.
''The backlash we receive in the media is somewhat unfounded, when you look at how safely New Zealand midwives deliver healthcare.''
And then, there is the ever-present problem of funding. Many midwives, she says, work as lead maternity carers, and do not receive the support that she believes they should from the Ministry of Health.
''They're on call 24/7, they don't have sick pay, they don't have holiday leave, they have to pay to provide their own back-up care, they don't have access to KiwiSaver; they're saving the healthcare system a lot of money.''
Still, Ms Temple said, this year's International Day of the Midwife was about looking to the future.
''The United Nations set down some Millennium Development Goals around maternal health and reducing child mortality rates, and 2015 was the achievement point ... [New Zealand] has done it quite successfully, with increasing education and funding towards midwifery programmes,'' she said.
''This year, the [International Day of the Midwife] is called `Midwives for a Better Tomorrow', because we're heading towards the [United Nations Millennium] Sustainable Development Goals.''
It is a tomorrow that, she hopes, will look more kindly on midwives and the contributions they make to New Zealand society.
