Australia names mother of the year
Updated
Heather Round has been crowned Australia's Mother of the Year; the mother of six turned a personal tragedy into something positive for families with children affected by congenital heart defects.
Presenter: Michael Edwards
Speakers: Kasey Leach, 28 year old Queensland finalist and mother of 10; Heather Round, South Australian has six kids aged 2 to 8
MOTHER ONE: You know what the classic is? When you've got no kids with you at the shops and you are pushing the grocery trolley and you are rocking it! (laughs)
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Get a group of mums together and it's not surprising the talk quickly turns to one thing - children.
MOTHER TWO: When there is no child even in there!
MICHAEL EDWARDS: But this isn't just any group of mothers. It's the eight finalists of the Australia's Mother of the Year Awards hosted by the charity, Barnardos.
Queensland's finalist Kasey Leach is 28. She is a mother of ten - five are hers. The rest she got along with her husband.
She's also possibly Australia's youngest grandmother.
KASEY LEACH: You know, to be called a nanna was so excited and that is just it. That's just our family. We are the Brady Bunch I guess.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Are you the nation's youngest grandma?
KASEY LEACH: I think so (laughs). I would hope so, yeah.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: They come from diverse backgrounds but what they all have in common though is a strong commitment to motherhood.
All were nominated for their contributions not only to their families but also for their work with their local communities.
And this year's Mother of the Year is a stand out.
South Australian Heather Round has six kids aged two to eight but tragedy struck when she lost one of her twin sons, Max, at only 13 days because he had a congenital heart defect, but when Max was alive, she and her husband had to travel to Melbourne for his treatment.
HEATHER ROUND: We were expected to be in Melbourne for up to six months with Max and in that time we had to give up our jobs because we had to be sort of bedside - he was life and death that whole six months.
The accommodation we were in was holiday accommodation. I mean, you would have done anything to be there with your son but we thought that stress on top of the stress of your child being so ill, it wasn't really fair so we wanted to do something to help other families.
MICHAEL EDWARDS: Heather Round did this by establishing an accommodation support network for families affected by congenital heart defects.
All the finalists say being nominated for the award is just an added bonus for doing the job they love - being mothers.
And with Mother's Day this Sunday, these ladies might settle for breakfast in bed from their children, but when it comes to the Prime Minister, they have one special request for Kevin Rudd.
HEATHER ROUND: Paid maternity leave, because I don't believe in just throwing my children in day care, so.
KASEY LEACH: I have worked through my children in childcare and hospitality. With hospitality, you don't get maternity leave at all. It is just, once you have a baby that it is. You don't have a job anymore, you have got to go look out for another one, so yeah, I suppose paid maternity leave and more job stability would be a good point.
