Two Moree ladies graduate as midwives

Debbie Key and Sherri Shannon both participated in the 12-month program although Mrs Key did her degree at the Inverell hospital.

Member for Barwon and acting NSW Minister for Health, Kevin Humphries, said the program was a great initiative for the graduates to stay in their rural town.

“This midwife program focuses on natural birth and encourages women to remember that giving birth is a natural thing so there is less fear of the event,” Mr Humphries said.

Statistics have shown that a quarter of graduates from the midwifery program stay a midwife in their home town.

Training and support unit for Aboriginal mothers manager, Jennifer Wannan spoke of her personal memories of the Moree hospital.

“My three daughters were born in Moree and the care and support that I was shown inspired me to do the same midwifery course,” she said.

She explained how hard the 12-month program was and how the support of her friends and family helped her through the late nights of finishing assignments and hard hours at work.

All of the graduates agreed with Mrs Wannan during their brief speeches.

Some of the graduates spoke about the tears and emotions they felt during the year, while others shared their remedies of overcoming the stress. 

Chocolate, alcohol and ice-cream were mentioned but they all agreed that the program was an eye opener.

Mrs Key presented her mentors with Aboriginal artwork to show her appreciation and wrote her speech about carrots - referring to the graduates and how after some careful gardening the carrots grew.