Thursday, 26th January 2012
Midwives and maternity support workers from across the UK gathered at the UK’s top midwifery event, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Annual Midwifery Awards in London yesterday.
Awards were given across thirteen categories including Promoting Normal Birth, Improving Public Health/Reducing Inequalities and Innovation in Midwifery. There are also awards for students and a Midwife of the Year’ award, voted for by mothers. Each midwife receives a trophy, and the student award winners receive funding for elective travel.
Among the winners are Allison Wright and Gayle Woods from St Helens and Knowsley NHS Trust. Their project focused on providing community midwifery services aimed at vulnerable women and their families grappling with issues such as domestic violence, drug abuse and mental illness.
Improving postnatal services for women with preterm and small babies earned midwives Sarah Gregson and Jean Meadows from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust an award. Their work focuses on improving skin-to-skin contact – kangaroo care - between mother and baby. This is the first time in the UK that kangaroo care has been used in a postnatal setting or in transitional care wards, where well premature and small babies are cared for with their mothers.
Other winners include Kathryn Murphy and Claire Stanley from Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The award was given for their work with pregnant women with complex heart problems, one of the leading causes of maternal mortality.
A Trust in Northern Ireland walked away with two awards. South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust scooped prizes for bereavement care and Maternity Employer of the Year.
“Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “These awards demonstrate that there is wonderful and ground-breaking work being done by midwives across the UK.
“Midwifery practice is always moving forward and innovating. These awards show that if we give midwives the resources and the freedom, the result is better services for women, babies and their families.”
“All of these midwives, including those shortlisted and those who did not make it through to the final awards are forging a path, and improving midwifery practice. I thank them all for being at the forefront of innovation in the profession and for challenging the way services are provided, and most of all, for carrying out work which leads to better care.”
The award winners are:
• RCM Award for Promoting Normal Birth - Won Donna Burns and Alison Fyfe from NHS Ayrshire and Arran
• Johnson’s Baby Award for Excellence in Midwifery Education - Won by Francesca Entwistle and Dee Campbell from the University of Hertfordshire
• Philips AVENT Award for Innovation in Midwifery - Won by Jenny Bailey from the University of Nottingham
• Pampers Award for Excellence in Postnatal and Newborn Care - Won by Sarah Gregson and Jean Meadows and The Kangaroo Care Research Team from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
• National Maternity Support Foundation Award for Bereavement Care - Won by Hilary Patterson from South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
• Mothercare Award for Supporting Families in the Community - Won by Allison Wright and Gayle Woods from St Helens and Knowsley NHS Trust
• Thompsons’ Members’ Champion Award - Won by Kath Jones from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
• Pregnacare Award for Excellence in Initiatives Improving Public Health and Reducing Inequalities - Won by Sue Hancock and Nicola MacPhail from Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust
• RCM Award for Excellence in Maternity Care - Won by Kathryn Murphy and Claire Stanley from Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Pampers Student Vision Awards - Won by midwifery students Rachel Yates from the University of Surrey, Aongola Ngenda from the University of Bradford and Julie Haigh from Salford University
• NHS Employers Maternity Employer of the Year Award - South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
• JOHNSON’S® Baby Mums’ Midwife of the Year - Won by Debbie Oram a midwife at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. There were also five regional winners
• Bio-Oil Team of the Year Award - Won by the Oasis Team of midwives from South London Healthcare Trust
For more information contact the RCM Press Office on 020 7312 3456, pressofficer@rcm.org.uk.
Notes to editors
The Royal College of Midwives is the voice of midwifery. We are the UK’s only trade union and professional organisation led by midwives for midwives. The vast majority of the midwifery profession are our members. The RCM promotes midwifery, quality maternity services and professional standards. We support and represent our members individually and collectively in all four UK countries. We influence on behalf of our members and for the interests of the women and families for which they care. For more information visit the RCM website at www.rcm.org.uk.
The 2012 awards are the tenth Royal College of Midwives Annual Midwifery Awards. Prizes are given across 13 categories. The winners were announced at a ceremony on 25th January 2012 at the Grand Connaught Rooms, Covent Garden, London.
