The hugely important work of midwives at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) was celebrated on Sunday 5 May as part of International Day of the Midwife 2024.
UHMBT has 213 midwives and to recognise their work the Trust shared some of the wonderful feedback that they have received in recent times.
Just a few of the comments on UHMBT’s midwifery service are below:
“Nothing was too much trouble. I was kept informed of all developments and involved in every single decision at every step of the way. What a lovely midwifery team and we even managed a little chuckle!”
“Every single member of staff from the midwives, nurses, ancillary, kitchen, etc, were amazing. Having given birth in another area previously, the level of care pre/during/post birth was second to none.”
“The staff were just great and so helpful.”
“The midwifes were absolutely fantastic. We couldn’t have received better care both from the delivery suite and ward. The holistic care, support and treatment we received the whole time we were in hospital was excellent, with midwifes, doctors and health care assistants going above and beyond.”
“I couldn’t have asked for any better care from the delivery suite or the ward. I’m very grateful.”
“I was listened to the whole way through my labour and wasn’t once told I was wrong about anything. The maternity services are spot on. All staff are very lovely and made me feel very welcome the whole time I was there.”
“Fantastic. Our midwife was so friendly and reassuring. Exactly what we wanted and hoped for from our experience. We felt comfortable to discuss all our issues and concerns and were really pleased.”
Sue Stansfield (pictured left), Interim Director of Midwifery, UHMBT, said: “Our wonderful midwives make an enormous contribution to the NHS, health and social care, our communities and society in general. International Day of the Midwife is an opportunity to reflect on their achievements. We are always delighted to receive feedback such as that listed above from the National Maternity Survey – our midwifery colleagues are clearly making a real difference.”
Tabetha Darmon, Chief Nursing Officer, UHMBT, echoed Sue's comments and thanked all midwifery colleagues for their care, kindness, compassion and skill.
International Day of the Midwife is taking place in maternity units and through virtual events across the world. This year’s theme is ‘Midwives: a vital climate solution’ - a theme that is also at the core of COP28 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference due to take place in November 2024).
Sue said: “We are fully committed to the Trust’s sustainability plans and keeping climate change at the forefront of our minds while caring for babies and families at UHMBT. Caring for the health of people in the Morecambe Bay region and caring for the health of our planet are two intrinsically linked responsibilities for our Trust.”
Midwifery organisations such as the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in the UK are calling for policies that include midwives in climate action planning. For further information, see the UN 17 sustainable development goals.
Midwives are a key part of UHMBT’s 7,000-strong workforce and everyone is working to help implement the Trust’s Big Green Plan.
The Big Green Plan outlines the Trust’s approach to sustainability, the actions it encourages all staff, including midwives, to take and the ways in which the progress of the green agenda and actions to tackle climate change will be measured. This includes helping midwifery colleagues and all staff at the Trust to understand the current views and practices in relation to sustainability, to educate staff and support them with the right tools to embed the sustainability ethos, and to provide a forum for patients and relatives to share their feedback, ideas, and views on sustainability.
Examples of the ways in which the Big Green Plan will be implemented include promotion of the use of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) My Footprint App and feedback of information to the Trust, a Sustainability Survey for staff to complete covering key focus areas, development of an agile working policy, development and launch of Sustainability Training within the Corporate Induction and Training and Management System, promotion and development of a network of Green Champions, and incorporation of sustainability as a key personal objective in staff appraisals.
The impact of the Big Green Plan will be measured in various ways such as surveys including midwives, other staff, patients, service users and families. The Trust will also look at the number of staff who complete the WWF Carbon Calculation, the amount of carbon generated by staff, the number of patients and families involved in feedback and various other measures.
The vision of the Big Green Plan for midwives and all staff is to develop strong sustainability foundations to support future improvements within organisational practices and supply chains, while ensuring the Trust meets the national mandated requirements.
Everyone can follow the International Day of the Midwife at #IDM2024 #MidwivesAndClimate and on UHMBT’s social media accounts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
The RCM says midwives are the heroes of millions of stories and as providers of culturally sensitive health care, leaders in their communities and emergency responders in times of crisis, they are courageous and indispensable. When disasters such as climate events or conflict strike, midwives are most often the first responders for women, representing the single-most effective way to avoid preventable maternal deaths.
A host of global partners and donors are developing a Global Midwifery Acceleration Roadmap, which will be launched at the World Health Summit in October 2024.
NHS England is encouraging everyone to get involved in a parkrun event on 4 May to celebrate International Day of the Midwife and further details are on this link.
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