Careers in Maternity Services
- About Maternity Services
- Watch our videos
- Meet our Nurse Unit Managers
- Meet Amber
- What we can offer you
About Maternity Services
Barwon Health’s Maternity Service provides birthing support to more than 2500 families each year.
Services include specialty pregnancy care clinics, including midwives clinics, adolescent pregnancy care, chemical dependency pregnancy care, shared care, midwifery group practice and specialist obstetric clinics. Midwifery Group Practice is a model of care that offers women the continuity of a known midwife as their care provider throughout their pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.
At University Hospital Geelong we offer families access to our Birth Suite, Maternity Ward and a state-of-the-art Special Care Nursery.
Barwon Health also provides outpatient maternity services at University Hospital Geelong and in local community health centres. The outpatient services located at University Hospital Geelong include the Pregnancy Care Clinic, Midwives Clinic and the Maternity Assessment Unit. Community outpatient services include midwifery-led pregnancy care which includes midwives clinic and midwifery group practice and the early lactation service.
Watch our videos
Meet our Nurse Unit Managers
Marie – Maternity Unit Manager – Maternity Ward, Postnatal Care at Home and Lactation Service
Pictured: Marie – Maternity Unit Manager – Maternity Ward, Postnatal Care at Home and Lactation Service
Tell us about your career to date?
Marie: Initially, I trained as an Enrolled Nurse in birth suite at the then-named Geelong Hospital. Determined to become a midwife, I went on to study general nursing and then midwifery. Returning to Geelong, I worked in various associate nurse unit manager positions. In 2011, I was appointed to midwifery unit manager in the ante/postnatal (maternity) ward.
What do you love most about maternity services and working at Barwon Health?
Marie: Returning to Barwon Health felt like I was returning home. University Hospital Geelong has a special care nursery with level 5 capability, meaning we are able to care for women and their babies with significant risk however still able to offer an individual focus on the people that we provide care for. I love that Barwon Health is committed to safe, person-centred care and I cannot think of anywhere else I would rather be than working with mothers, babies and their families. We have a close-knit team who are welcoming and inclusive of all new staff who join our team.
What do you look for when recruiting staff?
Marie: Highly-skilled midwives who are motivated by person-centred care. I look for diversity when selecting midwives as each individual brings their own personality to the workforce, enriching the experience for women. I also look for midwives who understand that midwifery is a 24/7 acute facility and staff are required for all shifts.
What development opportunities are available for staff?
Marie: We have midwifery educators and clinical support midwifes who support our employees to grow and develop their career.
Michelle – Maternity Unit Manager – Birth Suite & Maternity Assessment Unit
Pictured: Michelle – Maternity Unit Manager – Birth Suite & Maternity Assessment Unit
Tell us about your career to date?
Michelle: I have worked at Barwon Health for 13 years, starting as a student midwife, from a registered nurse background. I became an Associate Nurse Unit Manager six years ago and have been in the manager role for five and-a-half years now.
What do you love most about maternity services and working at Barwon Health?
Michelle: I love the challenges of being a level five hospital for the South Barwon region, with no day being the same. Caring for low-risk women spontaneously labouring, to women with very complex diverse backgrounds and complex issues. I love that maternity services provides a supportive environment to our staff on a day to day, shift to shift basis where we share knowledge and mentor. I’m proud of the many compliments and cards the department receives from the women and families that we care for.
What do you look for when recruiting staff?
Michelle: It might seem cliché but when recruiting, we are looking for staff that can align themselves with the Barwon Health values - respect, compassion, commitment, accountability, innovation. I also look for this in candidate’s answers through the example or situation they have been in, to show us how they have met the values through the care they provide.
What development opportunities are available for staff?
Michelle: We have a very comprehensive Clinical Services training plan that staff can follow to develop their clinical skills. For training around non-clinical skills we provide free training for staff around our leadership capability framework (LCF): awareness of self, communication, relationships and results. There is currently 30 training opportunities designed around the LCF. We also provide yearly professional development reviews to assist with identifying our employees’ needs.
Meet midwife Amber
“Working at Barwon Health as a midwife has allowed me to care holistically for women and provide continuity of care throughout their pregnancy and postnatally. Within this role I have been able to expand my knowledge and skills in all areas and work with an amazing maternity team who provide excellent care and continuous support to their patients.” – Amber, Midwife.
What can we offer you
At Barwon Health we harness a diverse and inclusive workforce and offer fantastic staff benefits. Some of these include:
- Flexible working arrangements and rostering
- Midwifery Group Practice and working towards a Home Birth Model of Care
- Professional development opportunities, including access to over 32 organisational curriculum offerings around awareness of self, communication, relationships and results
- Ability to increase your clinical skills in preforming ARMs, attaching FSE, preforming speculums, inserting cervidil and CRB, IV cannulation and perineal suturing
- Five days a week of clinical support, education and training
- Both water birth and water immersion are offered at Barwon Health, enabling you to achieve your water birth competency
- Paid education and training for FSEP and PROMPT
- Experienced clinical educators and mentors
- We are a training hospital for medical and midwifery staff
- Clinical assessors course available, as well as support rostering to allow for you to work with other midwives that require preceptoring
- Access to employee wellness facility
- Salary packaging
- Social club
- We support further education with paid time for work-related study
- Accrued days off (one per month for full time employees)
Last Modified: Monday, 25 September 2023