JOONDALUP Health Campus midwife Hilda Watson has helped to deliver about 250 babies a year for the past 40 years.
It’s been a busy four decades for the Scottish-born health professional and after assisting in more than 10,000 births, she has called time on her career.
Ms Watson already had about 10 years experience when she joined the campus in 1989.
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READ NOWThe then-Wanneroo Hospital delivered just 800 babies a year, serviced by 20 maternity beds and three birthing suites.
Today, JHC welcomes nearly 4000 newborns to the world with 71 maternity beds and 12 birthing suites.
The scenery has changed significantly too, as Ms Watson described.
“I can still remember the kangaroos on the lawn when I arrived at the job interview with my 10 month old son,” she said.
Ms Watson said a strong staff culture had remained constant during her time at the northern suburbs health hub.
She described the job as a “great priviliege”.
“It is an incredibly special time for parents and it has been a great honour for me to share these experiences with so many local families,” she said.
“We have a very unique culture at this hospital and I am going to miss the staff tremendously.”
Clinical services director Benjamin Irish said she would be missed “a great deal”.
“I am sure that there are many many parents out there who would also like to say thank you for the care they received,” he said.
Chief executive Kempton Cowan said Ms Watson had “touched the lives of hundreds of people” and was “enormously valued”.
While the sun has set on Ms Watson’s time as a midwife, she will still feature at the hospital two days a week to help with the birth study ORIGINS.