Kate Mason: taking a varied journey to midwifery

Kate Mason didn’t always want to be a midwife. But after having two children with nearly identical births on paper – but one being ‘quite traumatic’; the other a ‘lovely and empowering’ experience – she was inspired. The key contributing difference in each birth, she says, ‘was the people looking after me’.

The decision came when Kate found herself at a crossroads in her life, following almost two decades working in very different worlds.

Straight out of high school, Kate had done a year of science at university but while she ‘had a wonderful year socially’ it hadn’t been a great year academically. So she changed courses and went into event management.

‘I completed a double degree in sports admin and business marketing and I went on to be involved in some pretty big events in the sporting arena,’ she says. These included involvement in the Australian Corporate Games and being event manager for the Mount Buller World Aerials, the Southern Hemisphere’s only world cup event for freestyle skiing.

‘It’s funny, when I think back on that time,’ she recalls, ‘of all the many tasks that needed to be juggled, the aspect of the event that I found most fulfilling was supporting and organising the volunteer crew and making sure those guys were being looked after. So I guess there was a hint of unionism showing through even then!’

A bit like gig economy work, this kind of event contract work can be quite insecure, and not really enjoying the ‘boys club’ of the industry, Kate went back to study and became a remedial massage therapist. She ran her own business for a couple of years, out of the spare room at home, but after she had her kids that was no longer feasible. And so, inspired by the empowering birth experience she had had with her second child, she went back to uni yet again, and in 2015 she became a midwife.

Reflections on a decade in midwifery

After almost a decade as a midwife, Kate is here to stay. ‘I know now that I’ve found what it is I want to do and want to be a part of,’ she says.

‘My baseline point of view comes from quite a feminist perspective on things,’ she says, ‘and midwifery is such a strongly feminist profession, with lots of opportunity for advocacy. So it just suits me and it’s almost like  second nature. There are aspects of it that are definitely hard and challenging,’ she adds, ‘but it’s never hard to go to work because I just love it so much.’

And while noting that she doesn’t think she’ll go ‘back to uni to study anything different anytime soon’ she is back at uni this year to do a Master of Midwifery Practice. ‘I’m doubling down now into midwifery,’ she says with a laugh.

As a midwife, and inspired by her own personal birth experience, Kate has found her passion in advocating for women to support and inform them but also to give them the agency, time and space to make their own decisions.

‘It can be really difficult to do that,’ she muses, ‘because sometimes you’re thinking “this is the decision that I think this woman should make” but she’s going in a different direction. But you’ve got to remember that in 99 per cent of cases she is quite capable of weighing up her own risks, and the risks that are acceptable for her. At the very heart of midwifery is the empowerment of women to make their own choices based on the best possible evidence, and this is what I am incredibly passionate about.’

Advocacy and union involvement

Kate is equally passionate about advocating for her colleagues – hence, her unionism.

‘My union story started when I was at uni studying midwifery,’ she explains. ‘The ANMF student undergrad team came and did a presentation and I just loved every aspect of it. I remember sitting in the audience thinking “these guys are fantastic, and they’re speaking my language”.’

In 2012, that year’s ANMF (Vic Branch) delegates conference was opened up to students. ‘I had to write an application to attend,’ Kate says, ‘and I was lucky enough to be one of the students chosen. Sitting in the conference, listening to the backwards and forwards of debate on the floor, I just fell in love with it. So since then, I have been a union girl!’

Such was her dedication that in her grad year Kate decided to become a Job Rep. A couple of years later, she was recommended for the Anna Stewart Memorial Project, a two-week on-the-job training program for women and non-binary unionists.

‘And off the back of that,’ Kate notes, ‘I felt like I was ready to take the next step. I had previously never thought that I was a person who could do that, but the Anna Stuart Memorial Project really made me believe that there’s very little difference between me and the other people who are doing these higher-level things. And all I’ve got to do is put myself forward.’

So she applied for Branch Council and was successful. ‘I am currently in my third term on Branch Council, which is something I am really proud of’ she says.

Lessons from Branch Council

Kate’s original motive for applying was to ensure there were ‘more midwives at the table’ and she became the first direct entry midwife on Council. More recently, Kate has been joined by direct entry midwife Roxane Ingleton – together, they work alongside maternal & child health nurses Maree Burgess, Audrey Molinari and Kylie Somerville, and midwife/nurse practitioner Marie Jones as well as all the other ANMF (Vic Branch) Councillors.

The key lesson Kate has learned in her time on Branch Council is the ‘amazingly complex’ work the union does, and how much of it is always happening. ‘There are many challenges working in the public health system,’ she says, ‘particularly with midwifery, but on Council you hear about all the work that’s happening in other areas, and sectors and how many pots on the boil the union has at any one time. It’s really eye opening.

‘The vast scope of it all can be quite overwhelming but you’re not there by yourself making decisions on your own; you’re there with a group with similar passions, similar experiences. It’s the shared experience that makes it manageable, and really enjoyable. I am fortunate to be sitting at the table with such inspiring and passionate people.