MCA welcomes NSW Chief Midwife appointment to address fragmented maternity care system

24 March 2026

National maternity advocacy organisation, Maternity Choices Australia (MCA), welcomes the appointment of Donna Garland as the first Chief Midwife of New South Wales (NSW).  

MCA’s Managing Director, Dr Catherine Bell, said this role is a vital step as we move forward from the Birth Trauma Inquiry into a maternity system that actively addresses the identified issues and implements recommendations. 

 ‘We look forward to working with Ms Garland to prevent antenatal and postnatal depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder,’ Dr Bell said. 

 ‘We see the appointment as a significant opportunity to meaningfully address the fragmentation of NSW’s facility-based maternity system that often leads to unnecessary emotional and physical complications.’   

Ms Garland has a strong track record of advocating for expanded access to evidence-based midwifery care, such as through publicly funded homebirth programs,  supporting privately practising midwives’ visiting rights in NSW public hospitals and implementing Medicare benefits for private homebirth.

‘Such policy measures can go a long way to providing the best evidence-based maternity care in NSW in line with what women want and, therefore, improving mental, physical and emotional outcomes for mothers and babies,’ Dr Bell said.  

The NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry, handed down in May 2024, made 43 recommendations, all of which were accepted by the NSW Government, and included the appointment of a Chief Midwife to strengthen midwifery-led care across public maternity services.

//ENDS

 Contact:

 Dr Catherine Bell

 Managing Director, Maternity Choices Australia

  Ph: 0415 585 878