(Please note the above photo was taken in 2019 pre COVID)
Wednesday 5 May was International Day of the Midwife, an opportunity to celebrate the hard work and dedication of midwives worldwide, including our over 1,300 midwives here at Monash Health.
In 2020, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our midwives delivered over 9,000 babies across our maternity services. Daily they continued to offer support, compassion and guidance for mothers and their families through an extremely challenging time when many people were anxious to enter health services.
The theme for this years’ International Day of the Midwife is ‘Follow the data, invest in midwives’. This highlights the fundamental role of midwives around the world, and the growing need for additional midwives to care for women and their families during their pregnancy, labour and birth.
“I’m immensely proud of our midwifery workforce at Monash Health, particularly over the past 12 months. Your commitment to delivering safe, high-quality care never wavered throughout the uncertainty that came with 2020. I encourage all midwives to take some time and reflect on the contribution they make to our community every day. ,” said Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Clinical Associate Professor, Katrina Nankervis.
Thursday’s Nursing and Midwifery Forum will be a celebratory event for International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day (12 May). It will showcase nursing and midwifery practice at Monash Health and will include the opportunity to hear from our 2020 Midwife of the Year Karen Sawyer and other nursing and midwifery leaders. Join us from 2pm – 3pm to celebrate. All the details can be found here.
Did you know?
The term ‘midwife’ comes from the English word ‘with’ (mid) and ‘woman’ (wif) and the original version meant ‘with a woman’ i.e a person who watches over a mother during childbirth.
Approved by Katrina Nankervis