Career midwife appointed to local health district board

18 April 2023

Clinical Excellence Commission Improvement Lead Dr Cathy Adams has recently been appointed to the Board of the Northern NSW Local Health District, recognising her extensive and passionate experience across patient safety and clinical quality in the maternity setting in a career spanning around four decades.

"I'm really delighted with the appointment to the Northern NSW board as it helps ensure thoughts about how we best care for patients are at the forefront of decision making," she said.

Dr Adams, who is part of our maternity and neonatal safety team, has extensive experience in education, training and evidence-based maternity care models. She works closely on the Safer Baby Bundle, a national initiative to reduce stillbirths from 28 weeks gestation, and will be responsible for supporting the implementation of the bundle across NSW.

She also recently presented at the NSW Australian College of Midwives Conference where she was keynote speaker sharing her career journey and presenting the diverse and interesting opportunities available to midwives across the health sector.

Dr Adams previously worked as a clinical midwifery consultant at Northern NSW before joining our team to advance our work in implementing safer care for mothers and babies.

In Northern NSW Dr Adams had a broad role helping implement quality improvements and clinical care standards at hospitals in the local area as well as maintaining her midwifery skills working with mothers and babies.

"My whole career has had a clinical focus and I continue that work of supporting women in their pregnancy and parenting journeys but really, in this work anything is possible and there are amazing and varied career opportunities for midwives to enjoy," Dr Adams said.

CEC Director System Improvement Dr Harvey Lander said with a decades long career that has focused on gathering extensive clinical knowledge and experience, Dr Adams was a great asset to the Northern NSW Board. "It has been great having Cathy on our team working with us to improve care for mothers and babies," Dr Lander said. "Her practical knowledge and experience is invaluable in the healthcare improvement space."

The Clinical Excellence Commission has a range of resources within its maternity and neonatal safety program including the Safer Baby Bundle