A new beginning for budding Blacktown midwife

Some 30 years ago, a young woman named Lynda Trovato was in a university library working on an assignment as part of her bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition science. While browsing the shelves, she stumbled upon some midwifery textbooks, and although they had nothing to do with her course or the project she was working on, she soon found herself flicking through the pages, completely absorbed in the content.

“From that moment on, I knew I wanted to become a midwife, to be involved with helping women in their experiences of pregnancy and birth,” says Lynda, now aged 51. 

“I realised right then that I was more interested in midwifery than food and nutrition, but for whatever reason, I didn’t change the course. I just stayed on with what I was doing and finished my degree.”  

Soon after graduating, Lynda scored a job in quality assurance with a large food manufacturer, staying for six years until deciding to move on and support her husband’s contracting firm. For the next two decades, she devoted herself to the family business and to raising her three sons, and while it was a rewarding experience, it also had its challenges.

“Two of my sons have autism, and they’re in a good space right now and are such lovely and well-behaved boys, but over the years it’s been a bit difficult,” says Lynda, whose children are aged 18, 16 and 12.

“At times it’s been a lonely path as well, because I try to keep good friends but I’ve found that having children with autism affects friendships, so the support hasn’t always been there.” 

All the while, Lynda continued to the feel the pull towards midwifery, occasionally seeking information on courses that she one day might enrol in. 

With her third son due to start high school, her husband suggested she should follow her dream and make an application. 

“He kept telling me that I had supported him throughout his work life for 20 years, so it was time for me to do something for myself,” Lynda says. 

Lynda and her sons.

“I would always say ‘I’d love to be a midwife’, so I thought I’d take a chance and see what happens. When I got the acceptance from ACU, I just felt so blessed that they’d chosen me because it’s been such a long time since I’ve been at university.”

In early 2023, some three decades after graduating with her first bachelor’s degree, Lynda returned to the books to pursue a Bachelor of Midwifery as a mature-aged student at ACU’s Blacktown Campus, just a stone’s throw from her home in Quakers Hill. 

As well as the ease of being able to travel to campus so quickly, Lynda says it feels great to be studying among people from her community. She has already completed placements with the midwifery general practice at Blacktown Hospital, and hopes to one day work as a midwife in Sydney’s west, serving those who live among her. 

“There is a great need for more midwives out here,” she says, “and that’s been one of the main reasons why I wanted to return to study, so I could work in a job I’m passionate about in the community that I’m connected with.”  

While she still has a lot to learn about midwifery, Lynda has enjoyed the early months of her course.

“It’s been filled with so many new experiences that have really opened my eyes to what a midwife actually does,” she says. 

“We’ve gone out and done antenatal and postnatal visits, which I really enjoyed, and I saw a live birth during a placement, which was just fantastic, and I’ve also done shifts in a maternity assessment centre, where a women might be experiencing difficulty and they want to be reassured that the baby’s okay.” 

Learning more about pregnancy and birth has taken Lynda back to her own experiences with her three sons. 

“It seems funny now but I actually went to an obstetrician for my pregnancies because I didn’t know that you could go into a public hospital and get more support from midwives,” she says. 

“Now that I’m actually studying midwifery, it’s a whole new world for me. It’s such a great feeling to be on my way to following my dream.” 

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