Sometimes it takes a career to find your calling

Midwifery was always in the back of Laura’s mind.  

For years, it stayed there. Laura had a rewarding career that took her from public relations to community engagement, infrastructure, and eventually to a director-level role managing a team of ten people. 

“I loved my colleagues and clients, I worked on amazing projects,” she says. “But I also just couldn’t see myself doing it for another 20 years.”  

It was a conversation with her husband that helped her reevaluate. His question was a simple one: what would if you do if you could do anything?  

“Straight away, I said midwifery.”  

With her partner’s support, Laura made the leap and applied for the Bachelor of Midwifery. It wasn’t a decision she took lightly. With young children at home, she was conscious of the demands that studying again would place on her family.  

But what she didn’t anticipate was just how rewarding it would be for everyone.  

“When I started my second year of University, my daughter went into high school. And we’d sit down and we’d study and learn together. It has helped me be more authentic as a parent, to understand what she’s going through as well. I’m learning and grappling with new things at the same time as her, and I think seeing that also spurs her on.”  

Learning by doing

That’s not to say the experience has always been easy. Stepping back from leadership to become a student has had its own challenges. But for Laura, the rewards have outweighed the difficult days.  

“I remember when I was at my first birth at placement, and it was a planned C-section. I was in the theatre, and the midwife asked me if I wanted to scrub in and receive the baby. So I did and I stood close to the doctor as he was making the incision. And then the doctor handed me the baby. It was amazing.”  

Now in her third and final year of University, Laura has had time to reflect on her experience. Laura has really enjoyed subjects that have tackled the bigger ethical question in her field, like ‘Power, Politics and Midwifery’, and the degree’s emphasis on woman-centered care.  

“Our practical labs are fantastic. They’re really well equipped. We’re able to run clinical scenarios, like how to treat shoulder dystocia or postpartum hemorrhage.”  

Beyond the classroom, Laura has made the most of every opportunity offered to her. She works as an Assistant in Midwifery at Royal North Shore Hospital, and has attended the Australian College of Midwives State Conference, supported by a scholarship.

For her academic achievements, Laura was awarded the Health Dean’s prize. She also has the opportunity to complete a two-week regional clinical placement at Royal Darwin Hospital.

What comes next

Looking ahead, Laura is hoping to work in Midwifery Group Practice (MGP), which is a continuity of care model in which a mother is assigned a primary midwife through her pregnancy.