Meet the midwives! New team to deliver maternity care

A team of newly qualified midwives are joining the maternity wards at Lincoln and Boston hospitals.

Eight new members of staff have just qualified as part of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s latest intake of midwives.

The midwives have been training with universities in Nottingham and Hull for the past three years, but have all chosen ULHT as the place they want to work.

Yvonne McGrath, Consultant Midwife at ULHT, said the new recruits are part of a fresh approach to the way newly qualified midwives are supported into their fledging careers at ULHT.

“This is a new programme for ULHT, designed to support newly qualified midwives to consolidate their training and launch their careers through offering development opportunities across the year.

“This includes bespoke quality improvement training and opportunities to undertake small in-house improvement projects, all designed to enhance the care they deliver.

“We’re delighted that our midwives have decided to come and work for maternity services in Lincolnshire – they’ve worked extremely hard over the past three years and we’re looking forward to supporting and developing them as they progress through their careers.”

New midwife Melanie Lord from Lincoln trained in Grimbsy. but said she’s really looking forward to working at Lincoln County Hospital.

“I’m a bit nervous because I trained at a different trust, but I live here so I wanted to work in the area and help look after women in my own community,” said Melanie.

“I worked in universities previously but took the leap to train to be a midwife three years ago. It’s hard work and can be very emotional as you give everything, but I’m really looking forward to it.”

As part of their induction week, the midwives were also handed a new pin badge, featuring the Better Births logo, that they can wear to let fellow colleagues know they are newly qualified to enable more support in their first few weeks and months if required.

Sophie Shakesby trained at Lincoln County Hospital on a University of Nottingham midwifery course.

“I chose to work here because I loved the training and everyone was just so supportive,” said Sophie.

“It’s just like a little family and I can’t wait to start making a difference.”