Calderdale Baby Cafe founder Marilyn thrilled to receive an MBE

THE FOUNDER of the Calderdale Baby Cafe says she was “shocked and thrilled” to receive an MBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List.

Dr Marilyn Rogers, 67, has been given the honour for services to postnatal care.

She has been a midwife since 1975, after training as a general nurse, caring for new mothers and their infants with a sustained commitment to improving maternity services generally and breastfeeding support specifically.

She was instrumental in initiating and developing Calderdale Baby Cafe in

2002, a service which has aided countless new mothers by providing expert clinical and social support as they begin their journey into parenthood. “I was shocked and thrilled in equal measure,” she said. “It’s amazing and came right out of the blue. It’s my 50th year working for the Trust so it’s a double celebration.”

Marilyn says she was emailed about the honour at the beginning of December.

”To be honest I could have deleted it, I thought it was a scam!” she said. “I thought it was a HMRC or DVLA scam, it looked quite insignificant in the email but for some reason I clicked on it and read it carefully. I read it about ten times and realised what it was. My heart was thumping through my chest and I couldn’t get my breath. I don’t think I’ve slept through nights since, I keep mulling it over and thinking ‘has this really happened?’ because you don’t think that ordinary people like myself get this sort of thing. I’m just an ordinary NHS worker.”