A TEESSIDE NHS trust is backing the call to ‘invest in midwives’ – the key message of International Day of the Midwife.

Highlighting the importance of midwives in healthcare, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is supporting the worldwide day of celebration.

Steph El-Malak, head of midwifery at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Midwifery is an extraordinary career.

“It’s emotional, challenging, ever changing and filled with the most joyous moments you can imagine. It’s not easy and it’s not for everyone, but for the right people, there’s no better way to spend a working life.

“We’re involved with our patients from a very early stage of the pregnancy, right through to birth and beyond. We play an active part in the health of mum and baby and our advice and care is always tailored to each person.

“I’d encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a midwife to look into it and hopefully make the decision to commit to this amazing line of work.”

Like every other aspect of life, Covid-19 has of course impacted on the work of midwives.

Trust midwife Lyndsey Hepburn  said: “I joined the team in September 2020 during the pandemic as a band 5 preceptorship midwife. I was anxious at first; will it work during Covid?

"Being newly qualified, taking on bigger responsibilities and more accountability, the on-call systems and with four young children at home and juggling a work/life balance - could I manage it? Will I enjoy it? The answer is yes! Absolutely.

“The feedback from the women is amazing. I feel that I can meet the holistic needs of the women and their families and have developed fantastic relationships with them.

“The women like the fact that they are seeing the same midwife throughout for care and education and likely to see their same midwife in labour and birthing. That gives me great job satisfaction.”

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is leading the way with a midwifery concept call Continuity of Carer – where each pregnant woman has the same community midwife throughout their pregnancy.

Continuity of Carer allows the mum-to-be and midwife to develop a good relationship and build trust and research suggests it reduces the risk of losing the baby by 16 per cent.

For more information about careers in midwifery, including training, visit: https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/midwifery.

For more information about maternity services at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, visit:  https://www.nth.nhs.uk/services/maternity/