The rise of the man midwife
MEET the new generation of labourers — men making their mark in the women’s world of midwifery.
Parramatta
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MEET the men who have produced hundreds of babies with their own hands.
But don’t worry, they’re professionals.
Linc Marlow and Cameron Littlewood are half of the male midwifery team at Westmead.
Mr Marlow, 46, has been in the role since 1998 and has quite forgotten how many young bubs he has delivered.
“When I started I was one of two male midwives,” said Mr Marlow, who is now the Nursing Unit Manager at Westmead Hospital.
“But there are more of us today and that’s a good thing. We have male obstetricians and paediatric specialists so in the medical world we’re not seen as different, we’re just doing our job.
“Generally as a nurse you are looking after people who are sick and need help. But with midwifery it’s an exciting moment when a new baby is born and it’s wonderful to be part of that joy.”
Like Mr Marlow, 27-year-old Cameron Littlewood started his medical career as a nurse before realising two years ago midwifery was where he wanted to be.
“I really love working with babies and their mothers and in the last two years I’ve delivered hundreds of bubs.
“It’s a great feeling helping people in one of the most exciting times in their life,” he said.
The baby of the team, 23-year-old Jack Jiang, started work as an intern in the midwifery department just last week and already he can wrap a baby and get it to sleep quicker than you can say sleep deprived.
Westmead currently has five male and 327 female midwives who between them delivered 5600 babies last year.
“I would encourage anyone to go into it and men are no exception. Men work in other medical areas so it shouldn’t be seen as anything too different if a man is a midwife,” Mr Marlow said.
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