About 70 midwives and supporters marched in central Christchurch today as part of their protest for better pay and work conditions.
Members of the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (Meras) in Canterbury began their eight-hour strike at 11am.
They met at Cathedral Square and marched to Hagley Park via Cashel St and Oxford Tce, and then set up their picket opposite the entrance to Christchurch Women's Hospital.
Meras representative Michelle Archer said there's a national shortage of midwives.
"Many feel they're working at unsafe levels and that puts midwives at risk, and our New Zealand mums and babies at risk."
She said the pay that midwives received was simply not enough.
"We would really like to see midwifery funded better, so that we can attract more people to the profession and maybe attract some midwives that have left the profession."
Any regularly scheduled appointments, treatments or clinics were set to continue today, unless patients had been told otherwise.
The rolling strikes will culminate in a rally at Parliament on Thursday.
The Meras union, which represents about 1500 DHB-employed midwives, has also issued a strike notice for a further 12-hour strike (8am-8pm) on August 19.
