Chief Executive Officer Janine Holland said Benalla Health campaigned strongly in 2016 to attract midwives and was successful in obtaining a skilled midwifery workforce to serve the community. The health service is again looking for staff to add to the midwifery team’s expertise.

“The dedicated and committed team of midwives and obstetrician have faced many workforce challenges and have worked tirelessly to provide a seamless high calibre service,” she said.

“There continues to be a national shortage of midwives and due to natural attrition, Benalla Health is now seeking interested and experienced midwives who may be pursuing a tree change to work with our community.

“We are about to roll out an international campaign using social media to see if we can attract midwives, focusing on the many benefits of working at Benalla Health, which is an employer of choice and has a lot to offer in terms of work-life balance.

“We are also calling on the Benalla community to assist us to share this message around the world so that we can make sure we reach midwives in other countries who may consider moving to this beautiful area of the world because of the lifestyle advantages which are on offer.”

Ms Holland said the Benalla Health Board had an ongoing commitment to ensuring the maternity service continues in Benalla.

“We really want people to consider their options carefully and to know that we provide a first-class facility for birthing and our midwives and general practitioners are the very best,” she said. We also collaborate closely with Northeast Health Wangaratta to access specialist obstetric advice and support when this is needed.

“Our campaign will focus on the stories of our staff who currently work at the service, along with mothers who have had their babies here, so they can talk about what the benefits are in having your babies locally.

“More than 80 babies were delivered at Benalla Health in 2017 and the expectation for 2018 is 120 births so it is wonderful to see that our community continues to support us.”

Any midwife who is interested in working at Benalla Health is encouraged to contact the service’s human resources department of (03) 5761 4212 or hr@benallahealth.org.au