By Lucy Ashton
Today marks International Day of the Midwife, a day where we celebrate the amazing work our midwives do for their patients and their families.
This year’s theme is Together Again: From Evidence to Reality, highlighting the shared excitement at midwives being able to meet face to-face after more than two years of lockdowns and global travel restrictions and celebrating the evidence which supports midwifery.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has dedicated maternity units across the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary’s Princess Royal Maternity, the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Inverclyde Royal Hospital and the Vale of Leven Hospital.
Dr Mary Ross-Davie, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Director of Midwifery, said: “I would like to wish every member of our maternity and midwifery teams a very happy International Day of the Midwife.
“Each day I’m amazed by the commitment of the midwives working across our Maternity Hospitals, in community care and in our Community Maternity Units and the professionalism, compassion and kindness they have for the women and families in their care.
“I have been a midwife for nearly 28 years and I still feel so proud to say I am a midwife. Midwives make a difference every day of the year, night and day, supporting women and their families going through pregnancy, birth and those early parenting days.”
Meet our Midwives:
Marie Whalen – Vale of Leven
What is your role?
I am a Senior Charge Midwife at the Vale of Leven Community Maternity Unit
How long have you been doing this job?
I have been a qualified midwife for 34 years and I have been in my present role for 18 years.
What has been the career highlight for you?
I have been very fortunate in my career and have loved caring and providing services for the local community where I live. I retire in September and I’m now looking forward to spending quality time with my family.
What is the most rewarding day-to-day part of your job?
Working with a great team, providing quality care for families in my local community. The highlight of working at the Vale is providing continuity of care for local women and their families, following their journey and seeing them come back for further pregnancies.
What would your advice be to anyone considering a job in midwifery?
My advice would be to take the opportunity. It is a great career and extremely rewarding. Midwives have a very privileged role supporting families through the pregnancy journey.
Caroline Callander – Queen Elizabeth University Hospital
What is your role?
I’m a Charge Midwife on the Labour Suite.
How long have you been doing this job?
I’ve been in this role for nine months, but I have been a midwife for 17 years.
What has been your career highlight?
My career highlight so far has been being able to have my sister and sister-in law as part of my team case load and being able to support them to birth my two nieces and two nephews, both at home in the pool and in the hospital on labour suite. Also to finally have felt I was in the right place at the right time to have pursued the Band 7 role I am in now.
What is the most rewarding day-to-day side of your job?
The most rewarding part of my day to day job is communicating and supporting the Midwives, Doctors and the whole team to ensure our birthing families voices are being heard clear and loudly amongst the clinical and service demands.
What would your advice be to anyone considering a job in midwifery?
Go for it, because until you’ve tried it you won’t truly know what it’s like. I believe it’s one of the most rewarding and inspiring job. You will be challenged daily to use your whole self to ensure others are supported to achieve the births they want. You will also be there to make the difficult times the best they possibly can be and a lot of the time that’s where the job is its most humbling and memorable.
Karen Gallacher – Princess Royal Maternity
What is your role?
I work as a midwife in the Princess Royal Outpatient Department where we provide high risk Antenatal care. This includes specialist clinics for example diabetes, haematology and twins/multiple pregnancy.
How long have you been doing this job?
I have been a midwife for nearly six years.
What has been the career highlight for you?
I went in to midwifery training as a mature student after making the decision to finally pursue my dream of being a midwife. As such it was a massive career change and I have found the whole journey from student to qualifying and beyond a highlight. The fact that I am able to contribute on a daily basis to the care experience is the most rewarding part.
What is the most rewarding day-to-day side of your job?
The most rewarding part of the job is having the privilege to be a part of a woman’s journey throughout pregnancy, being able to listen to their needs and concerns, and to be able to offer them the care and support to help them to feel empowered. Pregnancy can be a particularly vulnerable time for women, and even more so for those with high risk pregnancies. Providing them with continuity of carer and individualised care is so beneficial to a woman’s experience. Knowing that you have made a difference to that woman and been part of making their pregnancy as safe and enjoyable as possible, is extremely rewarding. I am proud to say that I work as a midwife.
What would your advice be to anyone considering a job in midwifery?
Midwifery is a very rewarding vocation but also challenging at times. Gaining experience in working with the public and particularly in a caring setting will help develop communication skills and provide an understanding of the importance of care compassion. If you want to support women and make a positive difference to their lives, then you should pursue a career in midwifery.
Ashley McLellan – Inverclyde Royal Hospital
What is your role?
I am a community midwife based at Inverclyde Community Maternity Unit.
How long have you been doing this job?
I have been a midwife for 13 years and I have worked in Inverclyde for eight years.
What has been the career highlight for you?
There have been many amazing moments throughout my career and one of the highlights was when the local newspaper asked readers which Greenock woman had inspired them the most. A family I supported six years ago named me and it was so lovely to think that I had made such a positive impact on them.
What is the most rewarding day-to-day part of your job?
The most rewarding day to day side of my job is being able to work in my home town and provide care for the women of Inverclyde. I get to build relationships with women by providing continuity of care throughout their pregnancy journey and I have supported many women through their first and subsequent pregnancies.
What would your advice be to anyone considering a job in midwifery?
My advice would be that you are entering a fantastic and rewarding profession. The physical wonder of the female body and her ability to grow and adapt to accommodate new life is inspiring. I would also encourage student midwives to watch, learn and listen and identify good role models and learn from them.
Heather Gilchrist – Royal Alexandra Hospital
What is your role?
My role at the RAH is as a midwife, currently teaching the detailed examination of the newborn to midwives, student midwives and medical students.
How long have you been doing this job?
I have been in this post for ten months. This is a seconded role, created to support and develop the autonomous practice of the midwife and to provide greater continuity of care for the mothers in their care postnatally.
What is the most rewarding day-to-day part of your job?
It is incredibly rewarding to be able to support my fellow midwife in training and to teach this examination from a midwifery perspective to medical students and new FY2’s on rotation. I also perform the examinations myself and feel privileged to be able to have quality contact time with mothers, families and their newborns, liaising with their postnatal midwives and neonatal team to ensure a smooth transition home or to action further reviews as required.
What would your advice be to anyone considering a job in midwifery?
If anyone is considering joining the midwifery community, I would say that the most important skill to bring, is that of empathy. Clinical skills can be taught but kindness and compassion can make or break or a woman’s antenatal, intrapartum or postnatal experience. And therefore, as midwives, there is a great trust placed with us which should always be respected.