May 5th is International Day of the Midwife and we at Your World are always so thankful to those wonderful ladies (and gents) who helped many of us to become loving parents.

To show our appreciation, we thought we’d share a few stories with you all…

Ben James – Speech and Language Recruitment Consultant

I’ve had two children born in the past 6 years at both Lister and Princess Alexandra Hospital. Both my wife, Emma, and I were blessed to have four wonderful midwives who helped us through the birth of our two children.

Each midwife was reassuring, calm and extremely considerate during what is an overwhelming and nervous time for all expectant parents, both new and experienced!

Despite a change-over in shifts and long hours worked, the whole experience was made a lot easier by the dedicated hard work of the midwives working.

One of the locums even worked a 12hour shift after travelling down from Glasgow to be with us!

Sam Lea – HR Manager

 

My sister gave birth a few weeks ago in Basildon Hospital and I was fortunate enough to be in the room with her the entire time. We started out with a midwife and trainee looking after her and, despite them offering excellent care, things were very slow-moving, which was stressful for my sister.

When the shifts changed, we had another midwife come in and take over and it’s safe to say that things definitely got moving from there!

The midwife got my sister through her birth with no pain relief or medication – she was so encouraging and supportive. She was especially helpful after the birth too, showing my sister how to breastfeed and ensuring she was resting. What an inspirational healthcare professional!

Maria - Primary Care Recruitment Consultant

 

I'm currently expecting my first child and I am so grateful to my midwife. She is very informative - as this is my first baby, I didn't have a clue on what to expect and what any of the appointments were for. She gave me a break down of the weeks I will be seen and what blood tests I was due and why I need to have them.

My midwife always makes time to answer my questions and doesn't clock-watch, which is really great because I was expecting a rushed experience. My first appointment was so daunting but she made me feel really relaxed.

I can't wait to meet my little bundle of joy and I have total faith in my midwife as she's so experienced - I know I'll be in safe hands on the day! 

Laura Goodmaker - Dietetics Recruitment Consultant (Still on Maternity Leave!)

 

My experience of midwives after having my first baby was something I could never forget. Unfortunately for me, I had to endure an 18hour labour (pushing for 1.5 hours having failed Ventouse) and eventually an emergency C section, so it’s safe to say that I had an interesting birthing experience (sorry to anyone who hasn’t given birth before).

When we got to the hospital, the main thing that I was so surprised about was that we were assigned a midwife whose job it was to stay with us the entire time until I gave birth. In my head, I always thought the midwives only ever popped in from time to time (I’m sure that happens in One Born Every Minute). She was amazing, considering she literally sat in a room with me for her entire shift – we got to know each other really well. She didn’t take breaks, even when she was allowed to go on lunch she wasn’t gone long and we had another midwife come in for that time in case anything happened (I was high risk by this point).

The only upsetting thing was that my baby still hadn’t come when her shift was due to finish, so she, unfortunately, didn’t get to deliver her, which I was pretty gutted about, having felt like we formed a bond. She did however come and see me first thing the following morning when she was back on shift to say hello to the baby and meet her, which was so lovely.

The midwives changed over and I also had a student midwife, who also came in to help. I have to say, she was quite amazing and I am so glad she was there because she had time to help me through some very painful contractions when the main midwife was doing other things, so she was always by my side until right at the end. The more help you can get when in active labour, the better! After the birth, they also helped me to breastfeed and spend a lot of time one on one, making sure I was doing it correctly. This is something I was sure the staff in the NHS wouldn’t have time to do, but they did, which I was so thankful for.

Overall, I think they are miracle workers and they don’t get the recognition they definitely deserve! I have never seen anyone work harder than a midwife and I would love to thank all the midwives and the community midwives who came to my house after to check on Sloane. 

We at Your World are proud to be mums and dads, aunties and uncles, grandparents, siblings, and more - none of this would be possible without the amazing work of our Midwives. Keep performing your miracles!