Karen Hart, president of the NSWNMA branch at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital, was a nurse for almost 20 years before she moved to midwifery.

After almost a decade of work as a midwife, she has no regrets about making a career move: “I can’t recommend midwifery highly enough. It is a really special profession, totally different from nursing.

“Midwives require a specialised skill set tailored to supporting women and families at the vulnerable time of transition to motherhood.

“Your aim is to support women to have safe and positive antenatal, birth, and postnatal experiences.”

She says the role is dynamic – “no two days are the same” – and offers career pathways such as endorsed midwife, lactation consultant, clinical specialist, and roles in antenatal clinics, birth suites, postnatal ward, special care nurseries, and Midwifery Group Practice teams.

“And you don’t have to do midwifery full time; you can split your time between nursing shifts and midwifery shifts to maintain both sets of skills and interests.”

Karen says nurses should also not assume they are too old to take up midwifery. “People transitioning to the midwifery program after years of nursing bring a wealth of life experience and nursing skills, such as assessment skills and time management, to handle any co-morbidities the women have.

“We’re lucky we can have experience as an RN and then be paid for 12 or 18 months to complete a midwifery degree. Having both sets of skills expands your career opportunities, in Australia and overseas. And for some nurses who may be feeling burnt out, programs like MidStart provide a pathway into a different and very rewarding profession.

“Even with the staff shortages and other issues facing midwives, I don’t regret changing careers.

“I always thought I’d do nursing and midwifery together, but now I’m just doing midwifery and I love it.”