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Tears and cheers: Building midwifery leadership in Papua New Guinea and Australia - Experiences and lessons learnt from participants of a 5 year Buddy leadership program
1
Bendigo Health, Maternity, Inglewood, Australia
2
Federation University- Australia., Midwifery, Ballarat, Australia
3
Shoalhaven Local Health District, Maternity, Shoalhaven, Australia
4
Deakin University and Western Health, Midwifery, Melbourne, Australia
5
National Department of Health, National Department of Health, Port Moresby, Papua new Guinea
6
Port Moresby General Hospital, Maternity, Port Moresby, Papua new Guinea
7
University of Papua New Guines, School Nursing/Midwifery, Port Moresby, Papua new Guinea
Eur J Midwifery 2026;10(Supplement 1):A870
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
The purpose is to share the amazing motivational stories that have emerged from the 5 year leadership program between Papua New Guinean (PNG) and Australian midwives. The authors believe that this program is applicable globally to midwifery associations hoping to increase lasting cross cultural professional exchange and build leadership skills within their midwifery workforce. Our presentation will consist of a facilitated panel of midwives from PNG and Australia, it will describe the challenges, triumphs and personal impact of participation in a midwifery twinning program.
DISCUSSION:
The PNG Midwifery Leadership Buddy Program (Buddy Program), partners PNG and Australian midwives via their respective associations and aims to strengthen the midwifery associations and improve maternal and newborn outcomes by cultivating effective leaders. The program is funded by Australian, PNG and International Rotary grants and funding. Midwives from both countries undertook a face-to-face workshop in PNG where they were connected with a ‘buddy’ midwife. Together these buddy teams designed a small quality improvement project. On returned to their respective homes, the buddies continued 12 months of online peer support to each other, bringing their quality project to completion and strengthening leadership skills. Since 2019, a total of 82 midwives have participated.
EVIDENCE WHERE RELEVANT:
Evidence Enhancing leadership confidence empowers midwives to drive changes that improve maternal and infant health (Clark et al., 2023). Cross cultural pairing of midwives has been found to promote effective collaboration (Cadee et al 2021) and leadership development (Hall et al 2023).
KEY MESSAGE:
Midwives from PNG and Australia experienced professional and personal benefits from participating in the Buddy Program. Often these benefits continue long term. The Buddy Program provides an effective model for building midwifery leadership and could be transferable to other countries. Strong midwifery leaders have the potential to improve maternal and newborn care through knowledge, advocacy and influence. Poster session 3 (Group B)
The purpose is to share the amazing motivational stories that have emerged from the 5 year leadership program between Papua New Guinean (PNG) and Australian midwives. The authors believe that this program is applicable globally to midwifery associations hoping to increase lasting cross cultural professional exchange and build leadership skills within their midwifery workforce. Our presentation will consist of a facilitated panel of midwives from PNG and Australia, it will describe the challenges, triumphs and personal impact of participation in a midwifery twinning program.
DISCUSSION:
The PNG Midwifery Leadership Buddy Program (Buddy Program), partners PNG and Australian midwives via their respective associations and aims to strengthen the midwifery associations and improve maternal and newborn outcomes by cultivating effective leaders. The program is funded by Australian, PNG and International Rotary grants and funding. Midwives from both countries undertook a face-to-face workshop in PNG where they were connected with a ‘buddy’ midwife. Together these buddy teams designed a small quality improvement project. On returned to their respective homes, the buddies continued 12 months of online peer support to each other, bringing their quality project to completion and strengthening leadership skills. Since 2019, a total of 82 midwives have participated.
EVIDENCE WHERE RELEVANT:
Evidence Enhancing leadership confidence empowers midwives to drive changes that improve maternal and infant health (Clark et al., 2023). Cross cultural pairing of midwives has been found to promote effective collaboration (Cadee et al 2021) and leadership development (Hall et al 2023).
KEY MESSAGE:
Midwives from PNG and Australia experienced professional and personal benefits from participating in the Buddy Program. Often these benefits continue long term. The Buddy Program provides an effective model for building midwifery leadership and could be transferable to other countries. Strong midwifery leaders have the potential to improve maternal and newborn care through knowledge, advocacy and influence. Poster session 3 (Group B)
| eISSN: | 2585-2906 |
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