Nursing and Midwifery director Jo Dean said Miss Castor, a clinical midwifery specialist, is one of 47 midwives at the hospital.

"It's an occasion for midwives to celebrate their profession and for us to all recognise and celebrate the midwives and their commitment to newborn and maternal health at Orange Hospital," Ms Dean said.

"I'd like to thank our midwives for their high quality of midwifery care that they provide to the women and babies and their families."

She said Miss Castor was selected to be the hospital's midwife of the year for going over and above her duty.

Ms Dean said Miss Castor helped women through high-risk pregnancies, helped families experiencing social disadvantage, and focussed on creating better futures for women and babies.

Miss Castor said delivering a baby was just one part of the journey with each mother.

"For me helping women birth isn't a major thing, it's not the be all and end all of midwifery," she said.

"The definition of midwifery is 'with woman', I think women are really strong and my role as a midwife is to empower them through their pregnancy because they are looking after the next generation."

Miss Castor said she started working with women early in their pregnancy to help them through their pregnancy until about six weeks after birth.

"It's a whole journey, women are pregnant for more than nine months and only give birth in one 24-hour period," she said.

"For us that whole journey is important and that whole postnatal period.

"Our philosophy is that pregnant is a normal life event, pregnancy is a normal event women go through."

She said her role includes educating women and families on topics ranging from nutrition and what to eat through to positive parenting.

"All that impacts how that child will develop and become a parent themselves," she said.

Miss Castor said women have been helped by other women when they gave birth throughout history.

"In our role we are educating women and supporting them to make decisions that are going to improve their health and their health of their babies," Miss Castor said.

"Their body has never changed like this before and they have never had emotions like this before, if we can provide education and knowledge and support to them that they can do it then we have succeeded in our job.

"Having fear and anxiety when going into labour is the opposite hormones than you want.

"It can affect hormones and that early postpartum period."

She said when things become complicated then obstetrics move in and at Orange Health Service there is a partnership between midwifery and obstetrics.

Miss Castor has worked as a midwife since 2013 and said she knew she wanted to be a midwife in high school and studied a direct entry bachelor of midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney.

"I was always intrigued and fascinated by the woman's body," she said.

Miss Castor spent nine months working at Hornsby hospital then worked at Orange Aboriginal Medical Service for two years before taking up her job at the hospital.

"I think when I originally had the idea and the interest I loved babies," Miss Castor said.

"I loved children, and getting into the profession the babies were a sweet little gift at the end of it."

However, she said as she studied and worked in the field Miss Castor said her passion turned to working with the women and families.

She said she got satisfaction from, "being able to use my skills and work as a midwife in areas of need and be able to provide midwifery skills to populations or people who might find it difficult to receive those services in mainstream heath."

"It's still nice to see women I worked with in the community and coming up to the hospital and having second and third babies," Miss Castor said.

"Some women only do this once in their life and it's really intimate and really personal."

Miss Castor's advice for anyone who wants to enter the industry is to be passionate about it.

"We need people in this field that are passionate about that, that's what will keep you in the industry," she said.

Miss Castor said she does not have children herself and said there were many senior midwives who have never had children and it has not affected their skills.

"I don't know if it would change my practice after I have children," she said.

"It definitely hasn't put me off."

WHAT DO YOU THINK?