To our midwifery colleagues in Australia and New Zealand,
On behalf of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, I would like to extend the most heartfelt professional and personal recognition for everything that each of you do for the women in our care on this annual International Day of the Midwife.
As the peak COVID years recede, our health care systems are left to manage a different crisis; one of relentless increases in the cost of providing care, and the inability of financial resources in our system – public or private – to keep pace with need.
Inevitably, we need to evolve how we work and be innovative in our approaches to ensure that the standard of maternity care that we provide remains world class. Increasingly, this means working even more closely together in truly multi-disciplinary maternity care to deliver for the women in our care and their babies, whom we all have the privilege to help bring into this world.
Personally, this is no challenge at all. In my long career as a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist, I have been privileged to work with wonderful midwifery colleagues, and I suspect that many RANZCOG Members and trainees would share similar experiences.
Our collective professional challenge – one I believe we truly share – is how to pull together to help transform the systems and policies that govern how we provide health care in our two countries, so that we can all continue to do what we do best: supporting the women we care for during their birthing journey.
We may be in different professions, but we each have so much to offer women in our care, and each other. We have even more to offer when we work together. I look forward to working with you to strengthen our connection and journey towards our shared aspiration, the care of women in pregnancy, childbirth and beyond.
My very best wishes to you all, and I hope this day brings each of you a small measure of recognition that you each so richly deserve.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Gillian Gibson
President
