As we celebrate the International Day of the Midwife, we’re shining the spotlight on Maddie Steel, a Midwife at the Birth Suites at Monash Medical Centre.
Maddie’s mum is a nurse and her dad is a doctor, so it seems healthcare runs in the family.
‘I started my career with Monash Health five years ago,’ says Maddie.
‘I studied a double degree in nursing and midwifery, but I fell in love with being a midwife.
‘We support families on what’s one of the most exciting – and most challenging – days of their lives. Midwives help families meet those challenges and overcome them.’
After her graduate year in 2019, Maddie and her midwifery colleagues were thrust into the challenges of delivering care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Wearing full PPE made non-verbal communication difficult, so we had to make sure we were talking a lot with families, to keep them reassured.’
Maddie remembers showering at work before driving home in her pajamas to avoid spreading COVID-19 to her loved ones. ‘We could definitely do with better pressure and more hot water in the hospital showers,’ Maddie adds with a laugh.
Emerging from the pandemic, Maddie felt closer than ever with her colleagues at Monash Medical Centre’s Birth Suites.
‘It’s hard for people who didn’t experience it first hand to understand. We went through some really difficult times together, and we’ve become so strong as a team because of it.’
Maddie is part of a team of over 720 midwives working across Monash Health’s birthing sites. Last year alone, Maddie and her colleagues helped deliver over 10,000 babies – that’s one baby born every 53 minutes.
The theme of International Day of the Midwife this year is: ‘Midwives: A climate solution’.
‘As midwives, we contribute to the climate solution by promoting sustainable models of care,’ says Maddie. ‘For instance, by encouraging breastfeeding when possible, we help to eliminate huge amounts of plastic waste from formula. Encouraging natural births is another way we help to cut down on waste.’
Today on International Day of the Midwife, we want to say thank you to all Monash Health midwives for their dedication, kindness, compassion and expertise!