This week, Northern Health is celebrating International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day. Today, we share the thoughts of Paula Cox, Senior Perinatal Mental Health Midwife/Nurse Clinician.

Q: What is your name and title?

My Name is Paula Cox and I work as a Senior Perinatal Mental Health Midwife/Nurse Clinician.

Q: What does International Day of the Midwife/International Nurses Day mean to you?

It’s a day when we can all come together and celebrate the great work we all do as midwives and nurses. It’s a day when I reflect on what it means to be a midwife, especially with my role as a mental health nurse.

I work with women who can be at their most vulnerable, and to be able to support them and help make a difference in their lives is very fulfilling.

Q: Why did you want to become a midwife/nurse?

As cliché as it sounds, during a hospital visit for an operation when I was younger, I was looked after by some lovely nurses who were dressed in these nice uniforms (that some nurses and midwifes wouldn’t have experienced). I looked at my mum and I said, “One day I want to be a nurse and look after people too”. I never changed my mind, and I wore pretend nurse’s uniforms at every opportunity and played with medical kits.

Q: Tell us about your journey to become a midwife/nurse.

My journey started in the UK where I trained as a nurse and midwife. After qualifying as a nurse, I knew that I wanted to work in women’s health and my first job was on a busy gynaecological ward. After a year of working in women’s health, I realised I wanted to study again and decided to embark on my midwifery training, which took me 18 months to complete. I enjoyed all the highs and lows that came with becoming a midwife.

In 2004, I moved with my family to Australia to take up a midwifery position. Midwifery practice was very different to what I was used to, there were no homebirths to attend and no being on call, so I had to quickly adapt to this big change in my career.

After a few years, the opportunity came up for me to be part of a project at the Northern Hospital – the Perinatal Mental Health Project.

This was an amazing opportunity as a midwife to develop a service to address mental health in pregnancy. I never thought I would work in mental health; however, I enjoyed the role so much that I decided to study for a postgraduate in mental health, leading to me qualifying as a post graduate mental health nurse through Melbourne University in 2021.

I have now returned to study as a nurse practitioner, to evolve my role further.

Q: What inspires you?

My own triumphs and struggles, overcoming obstacles in life and realising my strengths and resilience to things that can happen when you’re not expecting it.

Showing my children that you can achieve whatever you want to, as long as you are happy.

Q: Tell us about a particular patient or care interaction that has really stuck with you.

Midwifery has its happy days but can also have its sad days for families.

I was in charge of birthing suite on a Christmas Eve when I received a phone call that every midwife dreads – a mother concerned about her baby not moving.

Unfortunately, this was a sad outcome, but I remember staying through the shift into Christmas Day with this family until the baby was born and beyond. It was a great privilege to be part of this family’s journey, and although it came with great sadness, out of this came a great friendship, followed by the joy of being their midwife for their next three children.

Q: Do you have a message for your nursing/midwifery colleagues?

Happy International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day. You all have dedication, compassion and skills that make a profound difference in the lives of people.

Let’s take this day to celebrate all that we do and the incredible impacts we make every day.