Celebrating International Day of the Midwife across Morecambe Bay

While many health and care services were postponed in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Midwives have gone above and beyond in order to ensure that mums and families continue to receive safe and high quality care throughout the pandemic.

Tamsin Cripps, Head of Midwifery, UHMBT, said: “I can’t even begin to express my gratitude and respect for all of our fantastic Midwives across Morecambe Bay.

“It has been an incredibly tough year for all of us, and our teams have worked really hard to keep maternity services running despite the difficult circumstances.

“While we’ve had to make lots of changes to how we provide maternity services during the pandemic, the dedication and enthusiasm shown by our Midwives has remained as strong as ever, and is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

“I want to send a huge thank you and well done to all of our amazing Midwives!”

In the year since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, Midwives across UHMBT helped to welcome 2755 babies into the world and cared for countless families.

During this time, Midwives needed to quickly adapt to new ways of working such as following strict social distancing and hand hygiene rules, as well as wearing additional personal protective equipment during clinics, appointments and births.

Even with these changes, mums and families have continued to receive the same high level of care. Some of their feedback has been captured in a video explaining what to expect while giving birth at UHMBT during the pandemic.

Josie, who gave birth to baby Kai in June 2020, said: “I gave birth during the first lockdown. I had two Midwives and it's hard to explain how incredible they were. They were just amazing and every now and then popped in with guidance and support at what felt like exactly the right time, every time.

Amy, who gave birth to Isabella in September 2020, said: “Towards the end of my pregnancy, I had to spend a night on the maternity ward and what could have been a really lonely couple of days was actually quite a positive couple of days because the midwives and all the care team took really good care of me.

“Everything felt very safe, COVID didn't really enter my mind. I was able to just talk to the Midwives if I was feeling anxious and they reassured me and just looked after me really well. Everything was very safe and calm and the Midwives gave us all their time and attention and our lovely Midwife stayed with us all through the night.”

Fiona Ducksbury, UHMBT Midwife and Chair of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Lancaster Branch, said: “It’s so important that we take the time to recognise and celebrate the care and commitment of midwives and the wider maternity team, not only during the current pandemic but all year round.

“In celebration of this year’s International Day of the Midwife, I want to send my sincere thanks to midwives locally, nationally and globally, and encourage everyone to do the same. This support is what keeps us going when times get tough, and I am personally grateful for all my colleagues' support during this last year! I am so proud to be a midwife, especially at Morecambe Bay.”

International Midwives Day has been celebrated on May 5 every year since 1992. This year’s theme is “Follow the Data: Invest in Midwives” and coincides with the launch of the 2021 State of the World's Midwifery (SoWMy) Report.

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