Fostering a midwife from graduate to educator

17 Jun 2022

Megan Grant was the hospital’s first graduate midwife and she jumped at the opportunity after moving to Geelong from country Victoria.

“I really enjoy the hospital, the working environment and my colleagues,” Megan said.

“I’ve been afforded a lot of opportunities to progress my career; from working as a graduate midwife to then becoming a senior midwife and team leader and now working as a clinical educator, which is a role I love.

“I get a lot of variety in my work and support a lot caregivers across our hospital including graduates who are starting their career, or those who are returning to work after maternity leave. No two days are the same.”

Megan said her work gave her a balance between education and clinical support that meant she was able to stand alongside her colleagues and work with them.

“Maintaining my clinical skills is really important because if you are teaching someone how to do a procedure you have to be very familiar with it,” she said.

“That familiarity only comes from doing the work yourself. It also builds trust within our team and with our obstetricians.”

Over the past two years, Megan said she had been reminded of the important role midwives play in supporting women emotionally as well as through the physical experience of labour and birth. 

“It has been heartbreaking for some women who haven’t been able to have their usual support people with them due to COVID-19 restrictions,” she said.

“To know that we have done everything we can to support women in that situation has been rewarding, although we can’t underestimate the stress involved for those families.” 

After more than 20 years at the hospital, and thousands of hours in the birth suite, Megan said she was starting to meet some of the babies she helped welcome into the world now as adults.

“We recently had a student midwife on placement at our hospital and she asked me if I was the only Megan who worked as a midwife at the hospital, which I was,” she said.

“Her mother had told her to seek me out as they thought I was the midwife who delivered her. That is really special that people remember and think of me.

“Being a midwife is so rewarding, the privilege of being there when someone is born is something that I will never take for granted. It still gives me that buzz that I got when I was junior. 

“When that buzz goes, that is when I know I shouldn’t be doing it anymore.”