Midwives in Adelaide

[Guest Lisabri07]

Hi guys,

 

Im fairly new to this site and am in the preparation stages of applying. I'm a midwife here in oxfordshire, and my OH is a police officer. We do have a 5 yr old son as well. We would be looking at Adelaide as a starting point, but ideally would love to be out of the city and in a suburb.

My question is, are there any midwives on here who could tell me the areas where there are maternity units please? How long does it take to commute etc?

 

Thanks:rolleyes:

[Guest Claire-n-tel]

Hi Lisa, I'm not a midwife but......

 

Most people do actually live in the suburbs and not in the city, (you'd want to be pretty rich to live in the CBD!) and travel times depend on where you work and live obviously. Most people will get a short term let when they arrive for a month or so, then look at suburbs and getting a job before having to move into long term.

 

Are you planning on gettingsponsored through a work place or independantly?

 

Are you a direct entry midwife or were you a nurse before?

 

This website has a list of mat units in and around Adelaide:smile:

 

http://www.pregnancy.com.au/resources/maternity-hospitals/sa-maternity-hospitals/adelaide-and-surrounds-maternity-hospitals.shtml

 

Good luck!

[Guest Lisabri07]

Hi Claire, Thanks for your reply. I'm a direct entry midwife . I am hoping for a sponsorship, hence why I am intrigued to know what hospitals would be good options to travel to etc. thanks for adding the link, I shall study it and do a few web searches. Good point about the short term initial let.

How long have you guys been out in Oz then?

[Guest Claire-n-tel]

About 6 years, although we've been out of uk for 10

 

Direct entry midwifery is fairly new, i think last 5 years or so, i have a friend here who is a uk midwife who says Australia is slowly catching up!

[Guest Lisabri07]

I'm hoping by the time my oh gets his side of things sorted, I'll be seen as experienced with mentoring skills. So I guess you guys have adapted to Aussie life then? I think it's great you can offer support and advice to the rest of us that want to do it

[Daveyboy]

Hi Lisa

 

My girlfriend is a paediatric nurse (which I know isn't the same but the issues might apply to midwives too) and has found work very difficult to come by in adelaide however don't be put off because I think most of this is down to timing. We have only been here since October so still early days too.

 

I would say do a lot of research into the jobs market in the 6 months before you fly out here. Approach the hospitals directly for first hand information and dont listen to what agencies say. Based our experience it might be best you avoid coming in jan/feb/mar because the newly qualified midwives will come into the job market and there are practises to favour the people that have trained here., And put you at a disadvantage. I would also make sure you have your registration granted before you fly. We gambled slightly and flew out here 8 weeks after she applied expecting it to be completed by the 12th week. It took 20 weeks in the end so ate into our savings a lot.

 

Feel free to get in touch if you have any more specific questions. Adelaide is a great place to live and particularly to bring up kids.

 

Dave

[Guest Lisabri07]

Thanks Dave.

What you say really makes sense. My plan is to not come out unless I have a job offer and everything in place ready to go really. Don't know how realistic this is. Hope your girlfriend is enjoying the work? I appreciate the offer of contacting you when I have more questions, thank you. No doubt I'll be in touch soon. :-)

[Daveyboy]

Sorry I missed that you were intending to get a job offer first. That would negate all the issues we experienced. Not sure how possible it is being honest. I will ask someone at work who is on secondment from SA health. She is a consultant midwife (I think) from the women and children's hospital and should have some tips on where to go

[Guest Spratnat]

Hi Lisa

 

My girlfriend is a paediatric nurse (which I know isn't the same but the issues might apply to midwives too) and has found work very difficult to come by in adelaide however don't be put off because I think most of this is down to timing. We have only been here since October so still early days too.

 

I would say do a lot of research into the jobs market in the 6 months before you fly out here. Approach the hospitals directly for first hand information and dont listen to what agencies say. Based our experience it might be best you avoid coming in jan/feb/mar because the newly qualified midwives will come into the job market and there are practises to favour the people that have trained here., And put you at a disadvantage. I would also make sure you have your registration granted before you fly. We gambled slightly and flew out here 8 weeks after she applied expecting it to be completed by the 12th week. It took 20 weeks in the end so ate into our savings a lot.

 

Feel free to get in touch if you have any more specific questions. Adelaide is a great place to live and particularly to bring up kids.

 

Dave

Hi I hope you don't mind me adding onto your conversation here but I am paediatric nurse too (specialised in neonates now though) and hopefully looking to move out by the end of the year, depending on visa! My husband was offered a role in adelaide with his work but his job ( project manager) wasn't on the skills list so we are coming over through me on a nursing visa. If you don't mind I may want to ask some advice from you in the future as you have recent experience going through the visa system and we are trying to do it ourselves without an agent to save money! I have submitted my papers into ANMAC and will hopefully hear back soon and then we can put in our EOI! Any advice or helpful tips you have would be gratefully received! Many thanks, Nat.

[Daveyboy]

Yes of course please get in touch. More than happy to help if we can. What hospital do you work in at home?

[Daveyboy]

Hi Lisa

 

I spoke to my colleague at work (the consultant midwife) and she said if you arrive in Adelaide work ready (with APHRA reg) you shouldn't have a problem getting work. She said there is always a shortage of midwifes (particularly out in the country but being a new migrant I wouldn't necessarily advise you go there - there's a reason why they can't get people to work out there). I asked the specific question about being sponsored and offered a job before you come out here, she said it isn't a practise she has heard of happening in Adelaide.

 

However I would speak to the internal recruiters at the hospital and ask them directly, you should be able to find a contact on the SA health careers website. If you do end up going the independent skilled migrant route I would just make sure you have your APHRA registration before you get to oz.

[Guest Spratnat]

Thanks, its so handy to be able to speak to people who have been through it all & know what they are doing!! I work at Poole hospital, down south! I do have a quick question actually. When you apply for the visa and have to pay the fees, do you know if you have to pay for everyone that you are including or do you just pay for the main applicant and pay for the rest of the family at a later date? We have 5 children so the visa is going to cost us a lot of money, which we don't mind paying but of course there is no guarantee so it would be a lot of money to lose if we are not successful!!!

[Daveyboy]

I'm pretty sure that you have to pay at the time you submit your application. I know I did and I seem to recall there was no option to pay later.

 

Just a thought it might be worth looking to see if sponsorship is on offer in hospitals in other states before making any final decision. It's quicker, easier and cheaper to be sponsored and you could always then look at PR applications once you are here. There's pros and cons to whatever way you do it but its always useful to know what all the options are

[Guest tenfa]

hi i'm new bie..