My friends, may I offer you the warmest of welcomes to Admiralty House this afternoon.

I acknowledge the traditional keepers of this beautiful place and I record the debt of gratitude I owe to wise Indigenous women who, across my lifetime, have taught me what it means to be an Elder.

As I reflect on this occasion we share, I have in my mind with affection and respect Indigenous midwives I have sat with and listened to in Sydney, in the Torres Strait, in Arnhem Land.

I want you to know how thrilled and delighted I am to be launching this book “Baby Care – nurturing your baby your way”.

It’s a book that brings together so many important things – things that really matter.

First and foremost it celebrates an inspiring life, a life committed to service, a life of generous spirit, of insight, the highest level of professional skill, a life of care and love.

Those are qualities, the characteristics that came in to my mind as I opened this book and looked in to the photo of its author Rhodanthe Lipsett, into the reflective eyes, the wear and tear of life, the marks of the sun, the etched lines of empathy, the strong features, the sensible collar, and there on her chest, a tiny adorable baby, comfortable, at ease and secure, where many little ones have been held, cuddled, comforted.

How many, I wondered? About 23,000 I think.

How uplifting and heart-warming it is to have this truly wonderful woman in our midst, family, friends and colleagues, and for us to be together for another milestone – ninety years – truly a golden life.

One that can best be described in the words of the author in her dedication of the book, to her mother - “a wise woman greatly loved.”

Wisdom shines through the pages, starting right at the beginning. 

“The first 6 weeks can be the most trying time for a new mother – adjusting to the responsibility of looking after their brand new baby. I found that mums were reassured to learn the simple things that their baby needed from them – and to realise that they could trust their own instincts as well.”

I love the way she explains the best lesson she learnt early in her professional career – her credo really.

“There is no one right way of doing things. Sometimes rules need to be changed to fit particular circumstances.”

That lesson planted the seeds for this book, when Rhodanthe was a pupil midwife in a large outback Australian hospital.

Indeed it was the original title of this book, when it was first published in 2004 and in 2007.

A book that has guided, encouraged, supported, thousands of Australian mothers – new parents.

This new edition Baby Care reflects the shared spirit personified by Rhodanthe in everything she does for women, babies and families and midwifery.

Editor Dr Jenny Browne acknowledges the people who read, commented, updated, suggested, rewrote Rhodanthe’s practical words of advice, information and reassurance.

This work - and it’s been quite a major revision in some parts – was done gratis.

We thank all those involved in the task.

I congratulate too Finch Publishing – an Australian based independent publishing house committed to producing books that change lives – books that have an important role to play in society.

Exactly!

The joy, the power of this book is in the encouragement it gives parents to find a way of knowing and doing what suits them and their babies best, building capacity and promoting resilience.

Most of the royalties will go to a special fund created by the Australian College of Midwives to support training in midwifery for Indigenous students – in my view that is one of the most constructive ways “to close the gap”, to provide culturally competent care, and to develop an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce.

You will recall that the Rhodanthe Lipsett Trust Fund was set up to improve maternal health and infant health and welfare for Indigenous people by Indigenous personnel.

My friends, in this room today are people whose life’s work has been about giving the best that we have to give to our little ones, their families, and especially to women in their unique child bearing, child rearing roles.

I want to express my admiration and respect for you, for what you do every day.

I have observed it closely across my life, and now as a grandmother I find myself thinking more deeply about the support and care our families in formation need –the isolation that so many feel, the loneliness of mothering for many.

I am struck by these issues in my conversations with young mothers.

I look back on my own experiences of neighbourhood, of grandparents always on call.

I can tell you that the guilty working grandmother syndrome is just as powerful as the guilty working mother’s.

Rhodanthe gives firm advice to us as grannies: “Grandparents need to be sensitive to the parents’ ideas and views of child rearing, accept the family rules, and know how to be involved without being interfering.”

Last month Michael and I were given written instructions on looking after Charlie, our youngest grandson.

Of course I kept them.

After quite a long lecture from Tom about all this, I just couldn’t resist pointing out to him that Dad and I had managed 5 children.

He said “that was different Mum. We were a herd. This is Charlie.”

Rhodanthe, I want you to know that I feel privileged to launch your book. And I wish you many more happy birthdays.