International Day of the Midwife 2022: A day to celebrate midwives

We celebrate the work and commitment of midwives every day, but especially on 5 May — International Day of the Midwife.

Pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Celebrate and acknowledge your fellow midwife colleagues. We hope you know Nurse & Midwife Support are here for you whenever you need support.

At Nurse and Midwife Support, we recognise that working as a midwife through the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging, stressful, and difficult for many.

Hearing your stories and supporting you has been our privilege. Your contribution as midwives to the care and support of Australian mothers, newborns, infants and families is recognised and applauded.

Each year 5 May is International Day of the Midwife, a day that acknowledges the vital work of midwives worldwide.

Our global body the International Congress of Midwives leads the celebrations. They hold many events and offer resources to help you to celebrate and acknowledge this important day and year for midwives and their supporters.

This year is particularly special as it is the Congress’ centennial.

This year the International Day of the Midwife theme is 100 years of progress. It acknowledges the important work of all midwives as well as the leadership of the International Congress of Midwives:

“In marking ICM’s centennial, our goal is to ensure our global community recognises that this anniversary is so much more than an organisational achievement. It’s about exploring our collective and individual progress and acknowledging how far we have come.”

One midwife’s story of the importance of support:

In 2020 Frankie Finch was one of our winners of the Nurse & Midwife Support inaugural story competition with her poignant story, B & Me: A graduate midwife’s story. She joined us on the podcast to discuss the importance of support for midwives — you can listen to the episode here.

Frankie told us:

“Support is everything… Being a midwife, in particular, it’s a part of who we are. When we do this job, we want to do it well because it’s a reflection of who we want to be as people.”

 Support is everything. You can rely on Nurse & Midwife for support whenever you need it.

Celeste is a midwife on our team, and wanted to share this with her fellow midwives: 

Today is the international day of the midwife. It is 100 years since the international confederation of midwives first began, which is a very important milestone to acknowledge. Being a midwife is an incredible privilege, one that comes with the power to have a huge influence over people’s child bearing experience and can change them in positive ways for their entire lives. To exemplify this point, I would like to include a quote by Ina May Gaskin, a well known influential American midwife who has helped change the face of midwifery for the better:

"Birth Matters... It matters because it is the way we all begin our lives outside of our source, our mother's bodies. It's the means from which we enter and feel our first impression of the wider world. For each mother, it is an event that shakes and shapes her to her innermost core. Women's perceptions about their bodies and their babies' capabilities will be deeply influenced by the care they receive around the time of birth." — Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta

I want to acknowledge and say a big thankyou to all the amazing midwives out there that have worked tirelessly through their career, and especially the last two years, to nurture women and their babies through incredibly special and vulnerable times. You make a real difference to people’s lives, and that matters.

We encourage you to take a moment to reflect on the value of your work and contribution to midwifery.

The team at Nurse & Midwife Support are in awe of midwives — after all, some of us are midwives. We know how beautiful, complex, and difficult your work can be. We are always here to support you.

If you need support, call us on 1800 667 877 or contact us. The services is anonymous, confidential and free.

Happy International Day of the Midwife from all of us at Nurse & Midwife Support!