13.17, 2 September 2010
Myleene Klass – she of the white bikini in
I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and the presenter of
Ten Years Younger – is not a celebrity one would immediately pick as an advocate of midwifery. I associate her with glamour, froth and fashion – labels not usually applied to the shapeless scrubs worn on the labour ward.
But, as part of
This Morning’s Baby Club to be shown next month, and following on the heels of
Amanda Holden, Myleene was filmed doing a stint with midwives at The Whittington Hospital in north London. She has also written an article for the
Daily Mail about her experience.
Is it trivialising highly-skilled professionals to have a celebrity shadow them during their shift? And should midwives feel aggrieved that the celebrity chosen is someone who first shot to face for being a winner of
Popstars, the show that later spawned the
X-Factor?
No, on both counts. In a celebrity-obsessed culture, this is one way of drawing the public’s attention to the work of midwives. And Myleene is more than a fashion plate; she is also a mother. Now, she is also an advocate of midwives.
Myleene has written about how she came to realise over the course of her shift that no two women are the same in labour. She saw women trying to cope with the pain in different ways; one brought a doula with her while another looked at happy honeymoon photos with her husband to distract herself.
As well as explaining to the public about the challenges and triumphs of midwifery, Myleene has reminded midwives of how special they are. Her celebrity status aside, she was an outsider, watching the goings-on of a birthing suite. And she was mightily impressed.
When you do the job, day-in day-out, it is easy to forget how much you affect the women you care for. Myleene spoke of the professionalism and skills she saw among the midwives but, more than anything, she was struck by the compassion, patience and support on offer.
Myleene found her experience so touching and inspiring that she has pledged to return, without the cameras, for a few days when she has some time off. And she said that if ever she were to change career, midwifery would be her first choice.
The scrubs may be unflattering but, as Myleene has realised, there is more to life than fashion.
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