Bachelor of Midwifery at Griffith celebrates 10 years and 14,000 babies!

Griffith’s internationally recognised Bachelor of Midwifery program has celebrated its tenth birthday.

Second and third year midwifery students performing simulated resuscitation utilising state-of-the-art equipment. Image: Christen Hill

With an initial intake of 48 students in 2010, 357 midwives have now graduated from the program since it began and more than 14,000 babies* have been brought into the world with Griffith midwifery students’ assistance.

Professor Jenny Gamble in the birth suites at Gold Coast campus. Image: Christen Hill

Head of Midwifery at Griffith, Professor Jenny Gamble, said while winning awards for the program was wonderful recognition, the value of highly trained midwives could not be overstated.

“Midwifery is more than a job. It’s a challenging, varied and highly specialised role that integrates skill, knowledge and tradition,” she said.

“The 2019 Shanghai rankings rated Griffith’s Midwifery program Number 1 in Australia and fourth globally and the Australian newspaper recently published Research Leaders Listnamed Griffith as the Leading Institution in Australia for research in the field of Pregnancy and Childbirth.

“The Griffith University Bachelor of Midwifery program prepares graduates to be evidence-based practitioners and work in continuity of midwifery care models but also to envision what maternity care should look like for the future.”

An internationally renowned and highly awarded researcher and educator with more than 30 years’ experience in midwifery, Professor Gamble has seen many changes in the last decade.

“The most significant change has been the advent of a global movement to provide women with access to continuity of midwifery care (known, named midwife throughout pregnancy, labour and birth and following birth to 6 weeks postpartum).

“Midwifery@Griffith contributes to this movement with the establishment oftheTransforming MaternityCareCollaborative, which brings together four key arms ofmidwifery research and scholarship.

“The pillars of Practice Translation,Workforce, Health Promotion,and Education foster engagement with arange of stakeholders including consumers, researchers,economists,educators, cliniciansandhealth services.

Graduate success

Cassandra Nest

Proud Ngunnawal woman, Cassandra Nest (also pictured in main image) has been awarded an Indigenous Midwifery Cadetship, Indigenous Rotary Health Scholarship and Griffith University Academic Achievement awards for two consecutive years.

In early 2018, she accepted an innovative joint appointment created via a partnership between Midwifery@Griffith and the Gold Coast University Hospital.

The role allows her to work alongside current Bachelor of Midwifery students to inspire and support them to complete their studies, even if any hardships were to arise.

Each year she mentors First Peoples midwifery students in a practical setting to ensure they are receiving, promoting and providing culturally safe care for First Peoples women, babies and families.

Cassandra received the 2018 First Peoples NAIDOC Award ‘Because of her we can’, for being an inspiring First Peoples woman and leader in the health service and community.

Did you know?

2020 has been named by the World Health Organization as the ‘International Year of the Midwife’ in honour of the 200^thbirth anniversary of Florence Nightingale.

ABachelor of Midwifery 10-year Celebration Gala Dinnerwill be held in Brisbane on Friday 18 October.

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*To achieve accreditation from Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC), midwifery students must assist with a prescribed number of births to graduate and become eligible as a midwife. The number of graduates (357) x 40 births (minimum) = 14,280 births.