On Tuesday 5 May, midwives around the world will celebrate International Day of the Midwife.
On this day of celebration – it is with pride we showcase WA midwife, Sara David.
Sara was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) this year for her service to international humanitarian programs – a mission to which she has and will continue to dedicate her life.
Sara is passionate about global midwifery. She has volunteered her time to set up networks in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and deliver better outcomes to women and babies in some of the most remote communities in the world.
PNG is our nearest neighbour, yet expectant mothers living there are up to 35 times more likely to die during pregnancy than pregnant women in Australia. It is common for women in PNG to have multiple pregnancies – many give birth to more than nine babies in their life time. This doesn’t give their bodies time to recover and increases their risk of death.
Sara is closely aligned with Global Health Alliance Western Australia (GHAWA) a program run through the Department of Health’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery Office, which delivers professional development to midwives in developing countries. Sara wrote the GHAWA Maternal and Newborn Care training packages used to train midwives in Tanzania and has been pivotal in forging a partnership between GHAWA, East Sepik Province of PNG and Living Child Inc, which enabled the recent launch of the program in PNG.
Sara remains humble. She says she would like to use the International Year of the Midwife and her recent honour to promote the need for more midwives in PNG, the work of Living Child Inc, and to educate the community – both in Australia and in PNG – about the important role midwives play in community development. She reminds us all that midwives are pivotal to educating communities about family planning, reproductive health counselling, preconception care, care during pregnancy, birth and postpartum, breastfeeding and transition to motherhood.
For more information on the International Day of the Midwife visit the International Confederation of Midwives website (external site).