Sarah Black – Director of Clinical Services

23rd September 2024

A need for more midwives across regional Australia prompted Sarah Black to upskill and retrain herself. As the Director of Clinical Services at Calvary John James Hospital, the knowledge and skills she gained through that experience have been invaluable.

“I was travelling around Australia as a nurse and noticed in many remote communities that we really needed more midwives and I knew I could help,” Ms Black said.

“Being a midwife has been an incredibly rewarding experience and it has given me a really good viewpoint in my role as the Director of Clinical Services.”

“I understand the complexities the midwives are dealing with and the challenges they face because I have been in their shoes. It also helps the midwives relate to me.”

Ms Black is responsible for the hospital’s operations including the delivery, management and running of the clinical services, and she still assists as a midwife when needed.

“I still really love being able to support mothers. For instance, recently I helped a woman in intensive care needing a hand expressing breast milk. Our midwives were busy in the birthing suites so I assisted, and I know the staff value that,” Ms Black said.

The maternity services at Calvary John James Hospital celebrate 30 years on 21 September and Ms Black said the extended care the midwives, nurses, doctors and other staff provides made the unit special.

“Calvary John James provides choice for the Canberra community. We have a lot of professional women having babies later in life, and we’re able to provide the support they desire and need,” Ms Black said.

“Some of our mothers haven’t had a lot of contact with babies so we really focus on spending a lot of time mother craft training and preparing them for the rest of their lives parenting.”