Yesterday, on International Day of the Midwife, Chief Nursing Officer for Wales Sue Tranka announced the latest winners of her new excellence awards. This included a special award for a North Wales team who help families coming to terms with the trauma of losing a baby.
The Snowdrop bereavement team at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board consisting of Lucy Dobbins, Sarah Griffith and Jan Garrod are a specialist team of midwives providing invaluable bereavement support to parents and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss in North Wales.
The team accepts referrals from gynaecology, maternity and neonatal services and offers crucial support to families who have experienced loss at any point including stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons and neonatal death up to 28 days.
This can take the form of emotional support, information to help parents cope with loss, and even supporting families through the difficult journey of investigations with the Perinatal Mortality review tool.
Also receiving a special award was Donna James from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. As the first digital midwife in the health board, Donna has transformed services and increased safety for families by enhancing communication between them and the service.
Donna is self-taught in computer programming, and the electronic pregnancy referral system built during the pandemic has resulted in quicker, more convenient access to maternity care, and significant time savings for staff.
Sue also announced the midwifery award for Quality Improvement in Service in partnership with RCM Wales.
The winner was a multi-organisational midwifery education team comprised of Nicky Court, Helen Etheridge, Elizabeth Rees and Suzie Moore. They demonstrated collaborative working between Swansea University and two health boards.
The aim of the initiative was to support and build confidence in students and professional colleagues by putting midwifery skills at the core of their practice. An inter-dependent education for the future midwife was developed and a collaborative workshop was implemented to enhance midwifery skills in supporting physiological birth.
This practice has helped students and staff to have enhanced experiences within clinical practice and the women to have more positive birthing experiences.
Sue paid tribute to the winners saying: "It’s important the midwifery profession is recognised for the vital role it plays in people’s lives. It’s been fantastic to hear about the commitment of colleagues across Wales and to celebrate the role of midwives, who are central to people’s maternity care.
"These awards are a reflection of how much I value the dedication of the award winners, and I want to congratulate and thank them for all of their efforts."