Endorsed midwife Maegen Kendall (right) with midwife Welyn Nawe in PNG. Photo shared with permission.
As we take time to celebrate our professions during International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day, ANMF (Vic Branch) asked members to reflect on the art and joy of nursing and midwifery.
Maegen Kendall
Endorsed midwife, Dhelkaya Health Maternity
What do you love most about midwifery?
My favourite thing about being a midwife is that I get to walk alongside women, birthing people, and their families throughout their pregnancy, labour and during the postnatal period as a caseload midwife working in a midwifery group practice.
There truly is no greater joy for me than being able to provide care as a known midwife for my women. Working within a midwifery group practice model means I can build real relationships, provide genuinely woman-centred care, and practice autonomously and to my full scope.
Continuity of care is powerful, it leads to better outcomes for women, babies and their families, but just as importantly, it makes the work deeply meaningful.
How do you find the joy in midwifery, especially when the job gets you down?
When the job gets you down, it’s often tied to feeling undervalued or constrained, whether that’s limited leadership opportunities for midwives or systems that don’t fully recognise the complexity and importance of what we do. There’s no denying those challenges.
But I find hope in collective action: connecting with like-minded midwives, working alongside consumer advocates, and pushing for better pay, conditions, and a stronger voice in how maternity services are run.
There’s also a broader movement. I’ve just been lucky enough to spend a week in PNG working with incredible midwives there to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates and improve care for families. This partnership with PNG midwives helps me feel connected on a global scale making the International Midwifery Confederation’s (IMC) global push for ‘1 million more midwives’ feel more tangible and highlights to me that this work matters on a huge scale. Change can feel slow, but it is happening, and being part of that momentum helps me stay grounded.
What advice would you give to a newer midwife who may be struggling?
Don’t do it alone. Reach out and find your people. That might be through professional groups like ANMF, mentoring relationships, or communities of practise that come together with a common purpose. Being connected makes a huge difference. It gives you space to reflect, to learn and to remember why you chose this profession in the first place.
And finally, find your passion. For me, expanding the continuity of midwifery care really is the way forward. It benefits women, families and midwives alike. Even on tough days, that vision can be a steady anchor.
