Nickey Pilgrim’s never tires of being stopped in the street or at the supermarket to fawn over a new baby.
Chances are she was probably at the birth or provided pre-natal or antenatal care to the mother.
The Proserpine midwife originally gave up her nursing career when she moved to the Whitsundays in 2016 to stay home with her four children. But an opportunity to study for her dream career while working at the local hospital was too good to refuse.
“I always knew I’d love to be a midwife,” Nickey said.
“Midwifery is just beautiful, every day you have the potential to have really positive impact at a very important point in someone’s life when they are starting a family and having babies.
“I really love watching dads in the birth suites as they welcome new babies – it’s a beautiful transition and so very special to watch.”
Nickey grew up in Redcliffe; her mum and sister are also both nurses. She spent 10 years nursing at Gympie Hospital in the emergency department before she began started at Proserpine Hospital while she did her 18 months midwifery study.
In a rural hospital, it was natural to form an ongoing bond with new mothers. Part of her studies required her to be present at 30 births – she stopped counting after 45.
“It felt like the entire hospital, from student midwives to the cleaners were really invested in how many births I’d done, and at the end, it was a whole team celebration as everyone contributed to the learning; it was a real shared experience,” she said.
“While studying you learn a lot about about fragmented care in tertiary facilities – where you might see a patient just the once,” she said. “Here in Prossy though we have the ultimate continuity of care as we really get to really know our women; they keep in contact and send us messages and we run into them at the supermarket.”
“There are about 260 babies born at Proserpine every year. We have a run sometimes where have a baby every shift, and then weeks when we don’t have any. March is a probably the busiest time of year.”
On International Day of the Midwife (May 4), Nickey was presented with the Mackay HHS Exceptional Midwifery Care Provider award. She was nominated by patients.
“It’s really very special to be nominated for an award – it was completely unexpected and I’m very shocked as well as emotional about it,” she said.
“I really want to thank the women who took the time out of their busy day to nominate myself and all the other midwives. I know such nominations are so valued and very well received.”
Her family were also proud of her efforts and the career she has achieved.
“My family are my biggest cheerleaders and it’s lovely for my children to see the value in working hard towards your goals,” she said.
Working in a rural setting like Proserpine was unique given the continuity of care provided and that it was a “whole team effort”.
“You know all the staff, you work closely together and the develops real trust and respect – we all have different qualities and strengths we bring to the table and we know how to support each other,
she said.
“I think you definitely develop a much better skillset working in rural as we have to do our own rescus, our own cannulations and there’s no dedicated paeds team.”
Nickey admits she has lots of conversations with other nurses who are considering moving into midwifery.
“I tell them it’s still nursing, but it’s the most beautiful part of nursing. It’s joyous. It’s just lovely,” Nickey said.
“I say you won’t be disappointed you did as it’s a very rewarding and fulfilling job.
“You leave at the end of the day and know that you’ve really done some good.”
