MIDWIFERY
YOUR FIRST 1,000 DAYS OF BEING A MIDWIFE ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE 1,000 DAYS AFTER BIRTH Midwife and ANMF ACT Branch Councillor, Jessie Price, recalls her first few days of being a midwife as being exciting and full of pride. “I was so stoked to be there and to be doing the job. I remember signing my first registration papers one night for a patient, and you have to write that you are a Registered Midwife. I was so thrilled and proud.” Whilst in the middle of a very successful career in journalism, reporting on the humanitarian crisis happening at the Thailand-Burma
Shortly after, Jessie moved back to
“A big part of what drew me to
Australia to complete her Bachelor in
midwifery was the sacredness of being
Midwifery before moving to Canberra
part of women’s business together
to complete her Graduate year. Since
with other women. It’s a really special,
her journalism days, Jessie has
profound real time; there’s nothing
become a Registered Midwife, assisted
more real than the murkiness of
the birth of dozens of babies, and an
giving birth and how special it is.”
ANMF ACT Workplace Delegate and is now an ANMF ACT Branch Councillor.
Jessie loved her job from the very beginning, but her first days of being
The journey hasn’t always been easy,
a Midwife definitely came with
and the job definitely comes with
anticipations: “I think you come out of
its challenges but Jessie says that
your degree and you’ve just learnt so
becoming a Midwife was, and always
much and you feel like you’ve passed
will be, about helping other women
your exams and you’ve done all this
and making a difference in the world.
placement. And then you come to your graduate year and it is the steepest learning curve. You feel like you’re
border, Jessie worked alongside Korean refugee women, documenting a range of different projects. It’s during that time, she discovered the ‘Where There is No Doctor’ book and became fascinated by health and more specifically, by women’s health.
Jessie Price at the 2021 Biennial Conference
12
Observations March 2022
