Source: Waikato District Health Board
Each year International Day of the Midwife is celebrated on 5 May. This is a chance for midwives to celebrate their profession and for all of us to recognise their work and contribution to maternal and newborn health.
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand staff in the Waikato gathered to share kai and celebrate the announcement of the 2023 Te Whatu Ora Waikato Midwife of the Year.
The criteria for this award is a registered midwife who makes a real difference to the areas they work in. This could be related to improvement in experience and/or safety of pregnant people and whānau; it may encompass innovation, improvements to a wider team, or implementing process changes.
From a field of very skilled practitioners, this year’s winner was Darjee Sahala.
Darjee’s nomination described her as “A midwife who has made a difference. Darjee is compassionate and equity focussed when working with whānau and staff in challenging times in a pregnancy journey. She is a wealth of knowledge and has developed a whānau resource booklet for bereaved parents and added ‘heart’ to our service.”
In addition to Darjee, other high performing midwives nominated for the award were Ilona Jackson, Jessica Dean, Sara-Jane Walker and Taku Stanbury-Poa.
Pictured L-R: Director of Midwifery Samantha Davenport, Charge Midwife Manager for Women’s Health Clinics April Irwin, Darjee Sahala and Midwife Director Shyralee Parker at Friday’s announcement.
