The midwives have a strong commitment to ensuring women receive care in their community and do not have to leave home to give birth.

This is particularly so of Raelene Blake and Liz Kelly in Jamestown, Sue Girdham of Booleroo Centre and J Swearse of Peterborough who are regularly rostered on call so that there is always a midwife available and a viable service.

Midwives work collaboratively with doctors in the medical centre providing education, routine antenatal care and ensuring that women get to know them prior to birthing.

They have excellent working relationships with the multidisciplinary team and this continuity of care is extremely reassuring whilst birthing to women and their families.

Carolyn Kaeding also provides antenatal education sessions – she has recently updated her program and it is providing extremely popular. They are run on a regular basis and are free to the general public.

The midwives provide individualized care to birthing women and promote birth as a normal life event.

Postnatal care provided in hospital is in collaboration with general nursing staff that have recently completed the TAFE course “Midwifery for Non Midwives”.

There is a commitment to gaining baby-friendly hospital accreditation and staff are adept in all aspects of mothercraft skills pertinent to the postnatal period.

The standard of compassionate care is very high from both medical and midwifery staff. There has been hard work to maintain a high level of contemporary caring postnatal care.

On leaving hospital care women are visited regularly by community midwife Carolyn Kaeding who will review women for up to six weeks postpartum after which Child Youth Health Nurses take over care. She is also available to provide postnatal care for women who have birthed outside the area and are returning home.

The midwives are extremely grateful to the many community members who have donated time and money to ensure that a new birthing suite – complete with birthing bath – has been installed in the Jamestown Hospital to ensure women and their families have a pleasant environment in which to birth.

There have been many such donations over time to Jamestown, Peterborough and Booleroo Centre which have made time in hospital more comfortable for women and for which all midwives are very grateful.

Midwifery in the rural sector is always under pressure but the commitment, humour and hard work of the Mid North midwives will ensure birthing services continue for many years to come.