Eleanor’s midwifery inspired artwork features nationally

When she’s not caring for women and their babies, or researching them, Fiona Stanley Hospital’s (FSH) Endorsed Clinical Midwife Eleanor Shenton is using her artistic talents to illustrate covers of national maternity journals and create artwork for midwifery conferences.

Eleanor has always enjoyed visual arts as a pastime and was thrilled to bring this skill to her professional life as a midwife.

Recently appointed as illustrator for the Practicing Midwife Journal Australia (external site) edition, an international, peer-reviewed journal sharing evidence, research and best practice across the maternity care community, Eleanor designed the most recent cover artwork.

Themed ‘Smart Starts,’ Elenor visually interpreted and designed the cover for the issue.

“With this theme I reflected not only on the childbearing journey, but midwifery as a career being a marathon rather than a sprint,” Eleanor said.

“I believe to find sustainability and success, you need a good team behind you, cheering you on and supporting you each step of the way, which led me to this design, where the woman is running towards the reader, and you are the next one in her journey to help.”

Over the last 4 years Eleanor has also designed merchandise including tea towels, tea tins, beeswax wraps and socks for the Australian College of Midwives (ACM). These limited-edition items are given to conference delegates nationwide and used for fundraising events like International Day of the Midwife.

“The tea towel I designed for 2025 ACM merchandise encompassed the different roles a midwife undertakes in their career, from facilitating waterbirth, to education, to sitting with women and listening to their stories,” Eleanor said,

In addition, Eleanor has designed graphics for the ACM National conference, the Strength to Progress conference in WA and for Murdoch University’s International Women’s Day.

“I hope my illustrations advocate for maternity care and support the midwifery profession, while supporting and promoting cultural diversity.”