Skip to main content
Women’s and Children’s Hospital
Ngangkiku Ngartuku Kukuwardli
Acknowledgement
The Women's and Children's Hospital is located on the traditional lands for the Kaurna people, and we respect their spiritual relationship with their Country. We also acknowledge that the Kaurna people are the custodians of the Adelaide region, and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices and names of people who have passed away.

International Day of the Midwife

Int midwives day 2022 news feature
WCH News
Posted 5 May 2022

To celebrate the International Day of the Midwife, we introduce you to Steph who has been a midwife for 15 years and works at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

“The babies are beautiful and I love getting my cuddle fix but it’s the women and the bond you form with them that is my favourite part of midwifery. As a midwife you are welcomed into a family's most sacred and special time of their lives. You get to teach them, support them and care for them. It is a lovely feeling.” Says Steph.

After becoming a Mum herself, Steph was compelled to do more to help the women she was seeing who often gave birth with no support or personal items.

“As a midwife I saw so many women come in and out of hospital without support, without the village a new mum needs. So I decided we needed to be a village for them, so Nicole Doak (co-founder) and I created and registered this charity.

“Together we discussed exactly what we needed when we went to hospital to have our babies. Most items a new mother needs provides them the ability to have dignity and meet their hygiene needs, as well as for their baby. We then decided that all these products need to go in a sturdy and beautiful bag, potentially the only bags she will own. This bag may be the tool to carry all she owns when quickly leaving an abusive relationship or it may become their nappy bag.

What we wanted to achieve was giving these women a beautiful gift that contains all they need for their hospital stay and when going home from hospital but to also feel so special and loved. And from there, The Village Co. was born” says Steph

Since 2018, The Village Co has donated over 2000 gift bags to the WCH for women who need them most. The bags contain essential items like nappies, baby clothing, underwear and breast pads to help women get a better start in motherhood and make them feel valued.

Thank you for the amazing work you do Steph and wishing all of our midwives a happy International Day of the Midwife!

To learn more about the Village Co, visit https://thevillageco.org/

#InternationalDayofMidwife #IDM2022