A daughter's tribute

Abstract

Margaret and her 2 brothers grew up in the small township of Robinvale, which is a soldier settlement area on the Murray River near Mildura. During their childhood years they frequently holidayed with the families of the women who, with their mum, shared 3 1/2 years as Japanese Prisoners of War. It was not until Margaret was in her teenage years that she began to understand the horrors these women had endued. Margaret has travelled with her mother to reunions around Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Their common nursing backgrounds and this understanding added additional bonds to their mother/daughter relationship.

Like her mother almost 40 years earlier, Margaret trained as a nurse at Mildura Base Hospital between 1967–69. She completed her Midwifery in 1970 at the Royal Women's Hospital, Brisbane and has worked exclusively in this field since then. She completed her Nursing Degree at Curtin University WA, her Graduate Diploma Nurse Education and Masters in Health Management at the University of New England in Armidale NSW. She was also a Army Reserve Nursing Officer from 1980 to 1991.

Margaret has worked in most Australian States due to her husband's military career including 15 months living in Singapore in the mid 70s. They moved to Canberra in 1989 and Margaret has worked in the Maternity Unit as Educator, & Manager before being appointed to her current position as Clinical Midwife Consultant for Maternity and Gynaecology Outpatient Services at The Canberra Hospital in 1994.