Nyomie Hofman loves being a midwife.
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But she admits she is seriously considering changing professions.
It's a not uncommon story as midwives, and nurses across NSW, are pushed to the brink as a result of dwindling staff numbers.
The shortfall, particularly in regional areas such as Tamworth, has been well-documented as staff leave the industry completely or move interstate where pay and conditions are better, and vacancies are unable to be filled.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) is calling on the state government to step in to try to stop the drain, and are proposing a one-year 15 per cent "pay lifeline", which NSWNMA Tamworth branch secretary Jill Telfer said would make them more competitive with other states and help attract more staff.
On Tuesday, July 23, they ramped up their fight holding an own-time rally outside Tamworth hospital.
One of a multitude planned across the state - there were also similar rallies at Armidale and Manilla on Tuesday - Ms Telfer said it was only the start.
"We want the government to know we're serious," she told the rally, adding they "can't afford to back down on this fight".
She said the situation is breaking them and cited vacancy rates in the vicinity of 60 per cent in some departments.
![NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Tamworth branch secretary Jill Telfer said the current staffing crisis is breaking them and is untenable. Picture by Gareth Gardner NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Tamworth branch secretary Jill Telfer said the current staffing crisis is breaking them and is untenable. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/82b730ae-942b-448c-9952-7e3813a643f0.jpg/r0_0_7290_4941_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Locally, Ms Telfer said nearing the beginning of the year the hospital had "100 full-time equivalent vacancies".
"Our ED is so stretched it's not funny," she said.
Maternity is meanwhile operating "with 40 per cent of the staff they should be".
"What that looks like for our ward is people doing almost forced overtime, people doing double shifts; coming back the next morning to a morning shift, doing a night duty and coming back and doing an afternoon shift because we just don't have the staff," steward for the Tamworth branch of the NSWNMA, Leonie Goldfinch, said.
"We're tired, we're worn out, we're worried about the mums and bubs in the community."
Ms Hofman has been working as a midwife at the hospital for 13 years.
"I love it, it's a great job but it's definitely changed over the years," she said.
"Back when I first started it was such a nice place to work. We always had staff, we actually got deployed to other areas, which is unheard of now."
![Nyomie Hofman, Nicola Stockwell, Leonie Goldfinch, Kylie Pollard and Namatai Munikwa told of constantly receiving SOS's to work after coming off shift and constantly working understaffed. Picture by Gareth Gardner Nyomie Hofman, Nicola Stockwell, Leonie Goldfinch, Kylie Pollard and Namatai Munikwa told of constantly receiving SOS's to work after coming off shift and constantly working understaffed. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/c432f1c5-d169-43de-9ef1-5d8f11a7f968.jpg/r0_158_7126_4845_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
She spoke of being "terrified" to go to work because they "just don't know what's going to happen".
"Am I actually going to have another colleague on that can help if something goes wrong, are we actually going to have a doctor that's going to be able to support us?" she said.
"I worked a night shift the other night and we had no doctor on call so I had to do the doctor and the in-charge midwife shift.
"It's just dangerous."
She said she is considering "other options".
"It's hard for my family. My kids hate it because they know that I won't come home on time. They know that I come home tired and exhausted because I don't get my breaks," she said.
The Tamworth branch has been in regular contact with health minister Ryan Park about the crisis.
"He said he was going to look into it and he has come up with no solutions," Ms Telfer said.
"We've had a letter back, there's nothing they can do, they're just going to keep on trying to attract midwives to Tamworth."
"How are they going to do that when we're paid so much less than other states?"