Graduate midwives Sylvie Walker, Sasha Crump, and Zoe Prentice all grew up on the Peninsula.
“It’s local to me. I’ve done all my placements here, there wasn’t really another option for me,” smiles Zoe, whose Mum is also a nurse at Bayside Health Peninsula Care Group.
“Once I started, I was really keen on helping women feel supported,” she says. “I want to make women feel good, feel positive, and get through that hard stage of life.”
Sasha, who is from Mt Eliza, was in nursing for five years before making the switch to midwifery.
“I guess I wanted to make change in the health care system,” she says. “Women are so often overlooked and women’s health care is so often neglected and it’s a lovely privilege to be able to then dedicate care just to women and make change in that area.”
Sylvie agrees, describing midwifery as “feminine and empowering”.
“And it’s the only time you come to the hospital and you’re not sick,” she adds.
For their fellow graduate Emily Ippel, however, the move to the Peninsula was a significant one, having grown up in the Blue Mountains.
“I actually relocated from New South Wales for the degree because I was so passionate about midwifery,” Emily says. “I just love working with women and the continuity of pregnancy and birth is something I really enjoyed.”
“I was really, really glad to get a graduate (position) here – it’s a dream come true,” she says. “I have done placements here before and I was so impressed by the support, the staff and the culture.”
