Midwife career calls to Virginia

WHEN Ingham Health Service midwifery team leader Virginia Meyjes began her midwifery training in 1978 it felt like the next logical step in her career, but it quickly became clear that she had found her calling.

“About halfway through my training as a midwife a whole lot of my understanding of pregnancy, labour and birth clicked into place; it was actually about the birth of a family,” Ms Meyjes said.

“This is not a medical event or one day in the life of these people; there’s a whole family that’s at home waiting for the news of the birth of this baby and it has impacts on a range of people, not least of which is the mother and the baby.

“That was the moment I was hooked. From there, midwifery became a lifelong journey of understanding the importance of those events to the lives of the people involved.”

Ms Meyjes joined the Ingham family in January 2017, about six months after the birthing service recommenced, bringing with her years of experience.

“I worked for most of my midwifery career at Logan Hospital and I feel that gave me a good grounding in how to manage emergencies and how to manage really complex care,” she said.

“I then moved to Beaudesert after their birthing service reopened and I enjoyed the change to a low-risk model of care.”

Ms Meyjes said she loved her current role in Ingham.

“Working with families is just so wonderful, as is seeing them develop and grow as mothers and as families,” she said.

“It’s such a privilege to be on this journey with both the women in my care and my colleagues.”