Vital Roles of Nursing: Patricia Brodie Interview
The WHO CC UTS acknowledges use of key language from The WHO Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (2021–2025).
Professor Patricia (Pat) Brodie has been an Australian midwifery leader and advocate for many years. She has been instrumental in building the profession of midwifery in Australia over at least the past three decades. Over these years she has been: National President of Australian College of Midwives, former president of NSW Midwives Association, Senior Clinical Advisor for Maternity Services in NSW Department of Health and has performed a slew of other NSW advisory roles.
Prof Brody played a major role in the development and implementation of continuity of care models for midwifery in Australia and has over 40+ publications that support her work. In 2009, she was invited by the NSW Minister for Health to join, as one of five members, an independent panel to monitor the implementation of the Garling Report which reformed health care systems in NSW. In 2012 Prof Brody was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to Midwifery. She is currently the Midwifery Advisor for the World Health Organization in Papua New Guinea and an Adjunct Professor of Midwifery at UTS.
Following initial training as a paediatric nurse, Prof Brody was led to midwifery due the job opportunities that having a double certificate in midwifery and nursing afforded at that time.
I didn’t think I would stay in midwifery, I thought I was a good children’s nurse, but thought midwifery would open up doors.
However, once she started in midwifery Prof Brody was hooked and it became her life-long passion.
Having witnessed injustice in everyday midwifery and maternity care, Prof Brody saw women without a voice, opinions being ignored and patients with very few rights with restricted visiting hours and limited access to their babies. Prof Brodie became committed to stayed in midwifery to instigate changes and continue to advance the profession. She said, “from the day I started midwifery, I knew this was my life’s work and I found it fascinating and interesting”. Her academic roles began in the late 90s through being involved in randomised control trials at Westmead Hospital, setting up one of the first continuity of care models called ‘Team Midwifery’. These trials, alongside her Masters in Nursing with Professor Lesley Barclay, began Prof Brodie’s formal research experience. When asked if any of the key aspects have changed in Australian midwifery within the past 20 years or if she had felt that we had actually gone backwards in some regards she replied “It’s kind of both I think”.
Important changes that have occurred, in part due to Prof Brodie’s leadership and advocacy, include the development of national standards that brought together the segregated states and territories of Australia. National guidelines eliminated different standards such as midwives graduating after only having done 2 births in one state or a midwife in South Australia looking nothing like a midwife who graduated in New South Wales. Prof Brodie remarked that she hadn’t expected that these changes would be successful because of the massive shifts needed within universities and education authorities to accomplish this feat. Prof Brodie still feels that there is still one area of improvement remaining in ensuring the visible distinction of midwifery as its own separate profession. Prof Brodie explained it was a 12-year process in New South Wales to change the Nurses’ Act to the Nurses’ and Midwives’ Act, however, she believes that a separate Midwives’ Act is now needed. Prof Brodie explained that the changes that happened over here career were due in part to the more that 20 committed activities who lobbied the various governments and the professions of nursing and midwifery in Australia as well as actively involving women themselves to lead and enact these national reforms.
During the early years, Prof Brodie commented on the old models of care where decision making was largely taken out of the hands of women, referencing cases where obstetricians would recommend a caesarean and that was the end of the conversation. This is distinct to the care provided by midwives who would instead talk to women from a place of understanding their values and pervious experiences and is what Prof Brodie sought in the midwifery continuity of care model.
After several years of implementing and evaluating and embedding that midwifery continuity of care model at Westmead I got invited to a post at St George Hospital to do similar
When asked about her defining work or what she thought was her greatest impact, Prof Brodie noted being most proud of her collaborative efforts with regards to the changing of standards and regulatory reforms in Midwifery that occurred during her tenure as President of the Australian College of Midwives. Specifically, ensuring that the complete revision of midwifery programs and standards were on par with other international programs. Her stint as Senior Clinical Adviser to the Government was another area that she found extremely rewarding, saying that it had felt authentic and that she felt that she could influence change on a national scale but had to be “bullet-proof” in her evidence and convictions if she were to drive necessary changes through.
Finally, Prof Brodie had some words of advice for upcoming and aspiring midwives to help them on their journeys. She said it is important to join the Australian College of Midwives as it would be truly beneficial to the careers of midwives, to ensure they built up the profession, continually contributed to the standard that they want others to aspire to, help advance growth in midwifery and to just be proud of the Midwifery profession.
She concluded…
From the moment I started to learn about midwifery I saw it as such a vital part of healthcare and for the women’s experience and to be so essential to society.
