Narrabri’s Susan Sargent says she’s just a country girl doing her job and was surprised to be nominated for Midwife of the Year in the annual Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia (HESTA), Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards.
The awards are in their 20th year and honour the contributions made by Australia’s nurses, midwives, nurse educators, researchers, and personal care workers, who improve health outcomes for those in the local community through exemplary care and support.
“I first qualified as a midwife at Narrabri Hospital back in 2012,” Ms Sargent said.
“It was probably the most challenging year of my life, with plenty of hard work, and a young family of my own – but also the most rewarding time!
“The team I worked with, and guidance offered by the senior nursing staff was amazing and I made some incredible friends.
“Watching those first babies I helped to come into the world grow into teenagers is wonderful and that’s one of the joys of midwifery in my own local area is that I get to keep up with everyone, watching babies grow into beautiful young people and often seeing them around town. They become like family.”
She has been an endorsed midwife since 2019, a registered midwife with advanced skills who can prescribe medication and order pathology tests and ultrasound scans for pregnant women. In addition to her original nursing and midwifery qualifications, Ms Sargent also extended her education to a master of midwifery in 2015 and completed a Master of Nursing in Clinical Education in 2025.
Ms Sargent left Narrabri in 2017, but returned in 2021, now working as a full time midwife and casual academic with Charles Sturt University.
Ms Sargent said the nomination came as a complete surprise because she had been taking some time out.
“It was so out of the blue,” she said.
“I took some time away from midwifery recently to give me space to make some decisions. I wasn’t loving it like I used to.
“I was doing a lot of nursing work because and many of the women I saw had to put in an ambulance to go somewhere else.”
Ms Sargent says she would like to advocate for changes to reduce transfers in the public system, as some other states have done, which would result in better care and lower cost to the health system.
“We could offer more timely care for women who aren’t in an emergency but still need priority care.”
“A reduction in transfers would certainly be a cost benefit and a service staffed with experienced midwives, who would have the real-time data on who is being transferred at any given time.”
Ms Sargent said she dreams about having a dedicated, statewide maternal advice and transfer system rather than the current situation where she said women in the New England were not getting adequate services, and emphasised the importance of continuity of care and familiar faces for support.
“A familiar face and someone who understands can give a woman so much more confidence,” she said.
“I particularly love working with Aboriginal women as they adapt at a younger stage of life and culturally family is so important to them. They often have a mother, sister or auntie with them for the birth.”
Ms Sargent is planning to offer some private midwifery services this year, starting with postnatal care after hospital discharge. She also offers birth trauma debriefs, birth mapping and breastfeeding support.
“The public system is hard on everyone right now, for both women and midwives, but it’s nice to know I have made a positive impression and being nominated for an award is amazing.”
“I’ve seen the amazing award winners from past years, and I don’t hold a candle to some of them. I’m just a country midwife doing my best to make a positive impact to each woman’s journey, even when things aren’t going to plan,” she said.
The HESTA Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards finalists will be announced in April, with winners awarded in May.
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