A new Clinical Midwifery Consultant Educator, Liz Taylor, has started at Longreach Hospital to provide support for the Central West Hospital and Health Service’s maternity service.
Central West Health Child, Youth and Family Services Assistant Director of Nursing Amanda Hackett said the new Clinical Midwifery Consultant Educator position had been created to add a further layer of support for the maternity service.
“Liz is a clinical specialist in midwifery,’’ Ms Hackett said.
“As well as providing support for the day-to-day running of the maternity service, she will also be involved in the ongoing education and mentoring of our permanent midwifery staff across the region, as well as student midwives doing placements in Longreach and newly graduated midwives just starting out in their careers.’’
Ms Taylor said the health service had a midwifery group practice at Longreach, from which it deliver outreach antenatal and postnatal midwifery services to other facilities across the region that she planned to visit in coming weeks.
“And we also support our other Child, Youth and Family Health Service staff across the region,’’ she said.
Prior to joining Central West Health at the end of June, Ms Taylor had spent the previous seven and a half years as a clinical midwife, midwifery educator and Clinical Midwifery Consultant for Rural Maternity Services at the Townsville University Hospital.
“I grew up in a small country town, in Inverell in New South Wales, so my passion has always been working in rural and remote areas,’’ she said.
“I started off in nursing – as Assistant in Nursing and then became a registered nurse.
“I worked in a lot of rural communities, especially a lot of Indigenous communities in New South Wales and I became aware of the great need for localised maternity services so that women didn’t
have to travel away.
“That’s what prompted me to go into midwifery, especially rural midwifery, and I haven’t looked back since.’’
As well as in New South Wales and the Townsville Hospital and Health Service, Ms Tayler also worked
in rural areas of the Cairns and Hinterland and North West hospital and health services.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know the Central West region,’’ she said.
Central West Health Chief Executive Anthony West, said maternity care providers in the Central West
included midwives supporting continuity of care through a group practice model, GP obstetricians,
and the allied health team, with ongoing follow up and referral to child health services.
“We also have an excellent maternity and birthing unit at Longreach Hospital that offers three single ensuite rooms, a birth suite, a maternity assessment room, a baby assessment room, and onsite accommodation for expectant mums,’’ he said.
“75 babies were born at Longreach Hospital for the year to 30 June 2024.
“Satisfaction with the quality of midwifery and obstetric services remains very high and it is
great to see the community’s trust in our midwives, medical officers and support staff.’’