On Thursday 5 May midwives across the world will be celebrating International Day of the Midwife 2022. This time of celebration will reflect on progress in midwifery over the past 100 years. Below is a blog from Lorraine Begley, midwife at University Hospital Wishaw.
My name is Lorraine and I’m a midwife in the antenatal ward in the maternity unit at University Hospital Wishaw.
I started my career as a nurse on May 13 1985 in Glasgow Royal Infirmary. As far as I was concerned, I was going to qualify as a staff nurse and work in the Royal.
One day, not long after I started, my mother said to me “I think you would enjoy being a midwife”….my answer? “Eh…I don’t think so”. Obviously, she knew something that I didn’t.
In August 1989 I duly began my midwifery training at Bellshill Maternity. It was an 18-month course, and I loved every minute of it.
I just found everything about midwifery fascinating. I also made lifelong friends that have shared births, deaths, marriages and now the births of our grandchildren.
There’s been many changes in our profession over the years. When I started, it was the doctors who sited cannulas, done ARM for IOL, who gave IV drugs and done paediatric checks of the newborn.
Now the midwife has a very much extended role, we are more autonomous than ever.
Even as an experienced midwife, the responsibility can be scary…but I think that’s a good thing. It shows that you want to give the best care you can and be a competent, safe practitioner.
As a midwife, you develop very close relationships with the women under your care. It never ceases to amaze me, when a woman leaves us a thank you card, given what they’ve just been through.
Like lots of midwives, I’ve also been a mentor to various student midwives over the years, and it’s been really rewarding, watching them blossom from terrified newbies to accomplished and professional midwives. I feel like a mother hen keeping a watchful eye from afar.
There’s been lots of challenges within the unit. In 2001 Bellshill and William Smellie became one. The first six months were hard. Getting used to a new way of working and new colleagues, but everyone pulled together and became one big team – team Wishaw!
More recently, we had another massive challenge with Covid-19, and all the restrictions put upon the women with regards to birthing partners. It was heartbreaking to have to see partners leaving the woman at the doors, unable to return until they were in labour. Hopefully we are over the worst of that.
So, to wrap this all up, I thoroughly enjoy my job and have never had a boring day at work ever.
I am proud to say that every wonderful, amazing midwife that I have worked with would fight to the death to give their patient what they wanted.
I’m so glad my mother was right all those years ago in 1985.
